Gymnast Rebeca Andrade came in fourth place in the balance beam event at the Paris Olympics in France. The São Paulo native scored 13.933 for her performance, just behind Italian Manila Esposito, who won bronze with 14.000. Despite some imbalances in her performance, the Brazilian did not fall off the apparatus.
As I would say @galvaobueno: HAVE A HEART!
In a little while, the final will be on the ground of our Rebeca Andrade.
GO FOR IT! 💚💛🔥#TimeBrazil #Paris2024 pic.twitter.com/EJmMy11Wwr
— Time Brazil (@timebrasil) August 5, 2024
The gold went to fellow Italian Alice D’Amato, who scored 14.366, while Chinese Zhou Yaqin took silver with 14.100. American Simone Biles, the favorite for gold, fell at the end of her performance, which cost her a place on the podium. With a score of 13.100, she finished in fifth place. Santa Catarina’s Júlia Soares, in her first Olympic final, came in seventh place with 12.333.
As I would say @galvaobueno: HAVE A HEART!
In a little while, the final will be on the ground of our Rebeca Andrade.
GO FOR IT! 💚💛🔥#TimeBrazil #Paris2024 pic.twitter.com/EJmMy11Wwr
— Time Brazil (@timebrasil) August 5, 2024
The balance beam final was marked by many falls from the competitors. Only Rebeca and the three medalists did not fall during their performances. Even so, Manila and Zhou had difficulties with some movements, which cost them points in their respective series. The Chinese gymnast, for example, had a score 0.766 lower than in the qualifying round, in which she was the best placed gymnast.
The first Brazilian to perform was Júlia. The Santa Catarina native began with the “Soares”, a maneuver that bears her surname and which she uses to climb the beam with a half pirouette. She had been performing without errors until she fell, significantly affecting the 18-year-old gymnast’s score.
Photo: Ricardo Bufolin/CBG pic.twitter.com/5CR4m50WzX
— Brazilian Gymnastics Confederation (@cbginastica) August 5, 2024
Rebeca, in turn, was the last to compete. She had to wait longer than usual to climb the beam, due to the delay in Biles’ score being announced. The Brazilian performed a performance that was less difficult than the trio that made it to the podium – which meant she had to be practically perfect.
Considering only the execution scores, Rebeca was the second best rated (8,233). However, as her difficulty score was lower (5,700) than those of Zhou (6,600) and Manila (5,800), the sum of the scores left the 25-year-old from São Paulo out of the podium for the first time in Paris.
*Text updated at 9:15 am to include information.
