Simone Biles once joked she was tired of competing against her. At the World Championships, her biggest rival gave her another reason to feel that way, winning a medal after a week that tested her body and nerve. So much so that even the 27-year-old Olympic champion questioned whether she would even be able to recover in time for Rotterdam.
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After her gold-medal performance, the gymnastics star shared an emotional Instagram post about the tough recovery, medical care, and support that helped her fight back.
“I faced my own challenges during my time here in the Netherlands. I went through that uncertainty, felt intense pain, and was afraid of not knowing how far I could actually go,” Andrade wrote on Instagram.
“Walking, jumping, running… everything I needed to do was difficult for me. It’s complicated when your mind wants to do something, but your body says it’s not the right time yet, and vice versa.
“But, with a lot of physiotherapy, medical care, and conversations with Xico, I managed to turn things around and, even in pain, do what I came here to do: help my team.“
Her latest win came in Rotterdam, where Andrade scored an average of 14.466 in the vault final to claim gold. American gymnasts Claire Pease and Skye Blakely finished second and third with scores of 14.233 and 14.166, respectively. This victory gave Andrade her third world title on vault, an event where she has enjoyed so much success.
She won her first world vault title at the 2021 World Championships, scoring 14.966 to win gold and also claimed silver on the uneven bars. She won her second world vault title in in 2023, scoring 14.750 to finish ahead of American icon Simone Biles, who won silver.
However, despite her ordeal, Rebeca Andrade did not name a specific injury or give a diagnosis in her Instagram post. Yet this isn’t the first time the Olympic medalist has dealt with tough injuries. In fact, Andrade has faced several serious knee injuries.
The 27-year-old tore the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in her right knee thrice. Her first injury occurred in June 2015 and kept her out of competition for nine months. Her second ACL tear forced her to miss the 2017 World Championships in Montreal. She returned in 2018, but she suffered another ACL tear at Brazil’s national championships in June 2019.
Andrade needed another surgery after the third injury, which kept her out of competition until March 2020. Reuters reported that these injuries kept her out of three of the four World Championships she was eligible for.
Andrade’s absence was a major setback for Brazil at the 2019 World Championships in Stuttgart. The team finished 14th after veteran Jade Barbosa also suffered an injury during the competition, missing out on qualification for a full team at the Tokyo Olympics. Not just that, the injury hit the 27-year-old hard mentally.
“When I suffered my third injury, I had an anxiety attack,” Andrade said in a 2025 interview with Podium Analytics. “I was alone in my bedroom. I needed help – I needed a hug, but I didn’t have any of that.”
Support from her family, coach, teammates, and psychologist helped her keep competing. And now Andrade’s latest world title adds another chapter to a rivalry that has produced some of gymnastics’ biggest moments. While she and Simone Biles have pushed each other to new heights, they’ve also shown mutual respect.
Simone Biles and Rebeca Andrade’s rivalry built on competition and respect
Rebeca Andrade’s success has often put her alongside Simone Biles, one of the greatest gymnasts of all time. Their battles have created some of the most memorable moments in recent women’s gymnastics. At the 2024 Paris Olympics, Biles won the all-around title, with Andrade finishing behind her.
After the event, Biles admitted that competing against the Brazilian had pushed her to perform at her best.
“I don’t want to compete with Rebeca no more. I’m tired,” Biles said with a smile, as reported by NBC Olympics. “She’s way too close. I’ve never had an athlete that close, so it definitely put me on my toes and it brought up the best athlete in myself.”
In the end, Andrade closed the distance as she beat Biles to win Olympic gold in the floor exercise final in Paris. After the event, Biles and her American teammate Jordan Chiles bowed to Andrade on the medal podium in a now-iconic image, showing their respect for the Brazilian champion.
“Rebeca’s so amazing, she’s a queen,” said Biles, reported by BBC. “She’s such an excitement to watch and then all the fans in the crowd were always cheering for her, so it was just the right thing to do.
“It was an all-black podium so that was super-exciting for us, but then Jordan was like ‘should we bow to her?’ and I was like ‘absolutely’.”
Andrade also appreciated the show of respect. “It was very cute of them. They are the world’s best athletes and what they did means a lot to me. We’re always rooting for each other, the final is very difficult for everyone.”
Rebeca Andrade’s latest world title came after a recovery that left her struggling with even basic movements. It added another chapter to her remarkable comeback from repeated knee injuries. Her rivalry with Biles has pushed both gymnasts to new heights, but their mutual respect reflects the resilience it takes to keep competing at the highest level.