Rebeca Andrade publishes a farewell letter from gymnastics, but decides to continue in the sport

Brazil’s greatest Olympic athlete, the gymnast Rebecca Andrade revealed, in a post on social media this Sunday (22), that she has already written a letter to say goodbye to the sport at the end of this season. She won gold today on the uneven bars at the Brazilian Artistic Gymnastics Championships, in João Pessoa.

Rebeca won one gold, two silvers and one bronze in Paris, taking her career Olympic medal tally to six. She surpassed sailors Torben Grael and Robert Scheidt, who have five – Isaquias Queiroz tied that tally.

“On 03/16/2024, in a moment of sadness and anguish, I wrote a farewell letter to gymnastics in my cell phone notes. I was sure that this would be my last Olympic cycle, everything would end after Paris and In this letter I spoke to myself, expressing things that people told me and that hurt me, even though I knew who I was,” Rebeca wrote on Instagram.

This was the farewell letter he had prepared:

Because of a sentence, they said that success had gone to my head. Because of a marriage proposal, I was called ungrateful and selfish. Because of a decontextualized word in an interview, they made fun of me by telling me that I was in the wrong country and these things hurt me, especially knowing that I am not like that, people who looked at me from the wrong angle. But that’s okay, the world is like that, I do a lot and think about everyone, but sometimes I need to think about myself, and that’s not so wrong! Thanks to a hug, I didn’t give up. Thanks to a conversation, I evolved. Out of caution, I insisted. And today I am happy to observe the pride of those who are important and those I love with all my heart, because I won! I overcame my barriers, I overcame my negative thoughts, I overcame the bad days… And every day I continue to overcome something inside of me! I am proud to be able to be who I am, without hiding my origins. I am proud of my family who has always done everything possible and impossible to make me happy. I am proud to have carved my name in the history of my sport, in the hearts of those who are here and those who are yet to come. I am happy for every experience I have had and lived, but life must go on! Thanks to everyone who has enjoyed and taken part in my journey here! A cycle has ended, but I believe there is a beautiful and bright future that I will follow again!

The gymnast emphasized this future would have been outside of gymnastics, but God’s plans for her life were different. She then shared the new letter, this time looking toward a sequel in sports and possibly a new Olympic cycle.

I thought that this year I would come here to end my journey in gymnastics, but it seems that I have other goals and plans to follow… How proud I am to be able to look at my history and see how much I have achieved, to see that every day of tears, pain, sadness, and also the days of joy, smiles and achievements have brought me this far! Not even in my wildest dreams would I have imagined that I would become the greatest Olympian in the history of my country, but God yes!

The feeling and responsibility that naturally comes from being an example has a great power within me, but as I said, it comes so naturally that it doesn’t become a problem or cause me fear, it’s an honor! I’m only 25, I still have a lot to learn, but I carry with me a very heavy baggage of very important sporting and personal moments that are often worth sharing!

Proving that I am not a superhero, but rather a person who fails, has her problems, her difficulties and her moments when she kicks the can down the road, hahaha… Yet she got up in different ways and faced it all with great courage, faith, determination, focus and overcoming every obstacle. It’s being proud and proving that we are all capable of achieving things, that’s life!

Knowing every little part of me and respecting me has been incredible and a great learning experience. I hope I can continue to show the beauty of my sport, always with a smile on my face and making you believe that it is possible to achieve your goals and make your dreams come true, even with all the adversities this world has!

I can’t wait for my vacation to come, to connect even more with myself, to REALLY take care of my body, my mind and to be an even better Rebeca for myself and, consequently, for you.

Thank you God, family, team, club, friends, sponsors and everyone for your love and support!

My 2024 sports cycle was beautiful and brilliant, but my personal cycle was GIANT!

I’ll be back soon!

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A post shared by Rebeca Andrade???? (@rebecarandrade)

Source: Terra