Surgery After Surgery. An Historic World Champion At Last
“The result is a consequence of what I did before,” said gymnast Rebeca Andrade
Hey everybody! Before we get into this week’s story, I wanted to let everybody know about one of the coolest things we’ve ever done at Religion of Sports. If you’re in the New York City area especially: listen up.
From November 29 through December 4, Religion of Sports will open the House of Fútbol in New York City, an interactive hub to watch the World Cup, listen to panel discussions featuring some of the biggest names in soccer, and immerse yourself in the sport like never before. We’ll even be hosting a live taping of In the Moment featuring USWNT legend Carli Lloyd.
You won’t want to miss it. For more information, and to RSVP to save a spot, click here.
Now onto our regularly scheduled programming!
-Joe
After the Brazilian national anthem had played, and after she had received her gold medal, gymnast Rebeca Andrade stepped off the stage and addressed reporters at the 2022 World Championships. Andrade pointed to her feet and her knees, gesturing all the way up her leg, pausing at the location of each of the eight different surgeries Andrade endured to get here: firmly atop her sport at long last.
She first tore the ACL in her right leg in 2015, when she was only 16. It took Andrade six months to return to competition, but two years later, the ACL tore again. She missed nearly a year recovering.
Finally, Andrade made it back, but at the 2019 Brazilian championships, she jumped and…pop! The ACL, torn for a third time.
Now, it was a race: Could Andrade get healthy in time for the 2020 Olympics? She had surgery, again, and was preparing for qualifiers when the pandemic halted everything. Imagine enduring all of that—eight surgeries in all, eight times nursing herself back to full strength—and having to sit with the thought that it might have all been for nothing. At the time, nobody knew if the Olympics would be rescheduled. Andrade didn’t know where she could train.
It would have broken just about anybody else. But Andrade says, “In that moment, I turned the key.” She was refocused. She had one goal: to be the best. She didn’t want to waste the journey.
"I want to be happy, happy, and healthy. I think that's the main one," Andrade said. " I always say, ‘The result is a consequence of what I did before.’ Sometimes, the best [thing that] you wanted doesn't happen. But if I'm happy, if I'm sure that I did my best inside on the floor, if I'm sure I wouldn't change anything…if I did my best technique, if I gave my best smile, if I was on my best day of joy and everything, I think it's worth it for me."
Andrade made it to the Olympics last summer, where she won a silver medal—the first gymnastics medal ever won by a Brazilian. She entered last weekend’s all-around world championships as the favorite, and she delivered, earning the highest score of the competition with her vault routine.
Now, she’s the first Brazilian world champion in history. Afterwards, she could have stood on both surgically repaired legs, looked at those reporters, and said, “I did it. Mission accomplished.” Andrade was excited, sure. She was proud. But she wasn’t satisfied. She said something else instead.
“I don’t have this doubt to say, ‘Oh my God, and now what am I going to do?’” Andrade said. “I want to go to Paris. I have to go back.”
Back to the Olympics. Back to training. Back to the mat, just like always.
🎙️ ICYMI, David Greene sat down with former Pittsburgh Steelers safety Ryan Clark for this week’s episode of In the Moment. Clark talks about how he went from a near-death experience to a Super Bowl championship in less than a year—and why he doesn’t consider it one of the most important moments of his life.
😮 Not to lean too far into the whole Religion of Sports thing…but is this the closest baseball gets to the Shroud of Turin?
🥶 I must have missed this Friday Night Lights snow bowl episode my first time watching the series.
🥲 I know most of you probably don’t like the Houston Astros. But how can you not be happy for Dusty Baker? This column, written on deadline by ESPN’s Jeff Passan, was fantastic.
