Who Is Rebeca Andrade? Meet the Brazilian Gymnast Facing Simone Biles for Olympic Gold (2024)

Brazil's Rebeca Andrade also has her eye on gold.

As the 2024 Paris Olympics are underway, women's gymnastics continues to heat up as the competitors head into the individual all-around finals that include vault, uneven bars, balance beam and floor exercise on Aug. 1.

The Brazilian gymnast will compete against Team USA's Simone Biles, the most decorated U.S. gymnast in Olympic history who serves as one of her biggest threats to the top of the podium, along with Biles' teammate Suni Lee, who won gold over Andrade's silver at the 2020 Tokyo Games.

The fight for individual gold comes after Biles and her Team USA teammates — including Lee, Jade Carey,Jordan ChilesandHezly Rivera — won gold in the women’s gymnastics team final at theParis Olympicson July 30, beating Italy and Brazil who placed second and third, respectively.

The Brazilian gymnast is a fierce competitor and a history-making one, too. Andrade's silver medal in Tokyo marked the first time a South American woman made it to the all-around Olympic podium. A few days later, she became the first Brazilian woman to win gold at the Games with her first-place finish in the vault final.

While Andrade and Biles are no strangers to each other in competition, a new first will happen for Biles when she and Lee head into the all-around finals. It will mark the first time that two all-around gold medalists go head-to-head at an Olympic Games.

Read on to learn more about the Brazilian gymnast Rebeca Andrade, who's set to face off against Simone Biles in the 2024 Paris Olympic all-around gymnastics finals.

She's from São Paulo, Brazil

Rebeca Andrade was born in São Paulo, Brazil on May 8, 1999. She and her seven siblings were raised by their single mother in a working-class neighborhood in the populous city of their home country, per NPR.

The Olympian's passion for gymnastics began at a young age, taking up the sport at four years old in part because she "was always active" throughout childhood. "My aunt took me to the gym where she worked and I began doing gymnastics. It was amazing," Andrade told the International Federation of Gymnastics.

"I think that if it weren't for that program, they wouldn't have spotted my talent and I would have just been a girl playing on the street," she added.

She's a two-time Olympic medalist

The 2024 Paris Olympics mark Andrade's third appearance at the Summer Games. She made her debut at the Rio 2016 Olympics followed by the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

The Brazilian gymnast won her first Olympic medal in Tokyo, taking home the silver medal in the all-around behind Team USA's Lee. Shortly after, she won gold in the vault final and made history for her country.

She's one of Simone Biles' biggest Olympic competitors

Biles serves as one of Andrade's biggest threats for Olympic gold in all-around gymnastics due to their respective skills in all four events: the vault, uneven bars, balance beam and floor.

The two athletes set the stage for fierce competition during the qualification round on Aug. 28, with Andrade finishing second to Biles in the all-around preliminaries. A few days later, Andrade and Brazil won bronze at the team event on July 30 while Biles and Team USA took home gold.

She has spoken highly of Simone Biles

Despite being up against each other, Biles and Andrade have respect for each other's game. Both gymnasts have spoken highly of one another during interviews in the past.

In May,Andrade saidit is an “honor to compete alongside” Biles ahead of the 2024 Olympics, expressing that she "hopes" she "does her best" when competing against her in Paris. "I’ve grown such affection for her,”she toldThe Washington Post of Biles in July.

Biles said in her Netflix documentary, Simone Biles Rising, that Andrade "scares me the most” of all her competition. Still, she said they "give each other the best push that we can to bring out the best" and called Andrade a "phenomenal gymnast."

Her mom and siblings supported her gymnastic dreams

As one of eight children to a single mother, Andrade has spoken about the challenges her family faced growing up in Brazil, especially in pursuit of her gymnastics dreams.

"The hardest part was the financial aspect,”Andrade said, per Olympics.com. "My mother walked to work so that I could use her bus pass to go to the gym with my brother, so I am very grateful to her and my sibling who made my dream possible."

She added, "Regardless of where you come from, your financial situation, or your color, you have to believe in yourself and not let anyone stop you from achieving your goals."