Rebeca Andrade becomes Brazil's greatest Olympic medalist. At just twenty-five years old, Rebeca has already won six medals in three editions of the Olympic Games and, once again, makes history.
Born in Guarulhos, the gymnast went through countless difficulties to get where she is. Rebeca was raised by her mother, in a small house with her seven siblings. It was often difficult to have something to eat, and going to gymnastics training was difficult and a daily sacrifice for her family to fulfill her dream of becoming a professional gymnast.
Just like Daiane dos Santos, Rebeca Andrade becomes a great example for the Brazilian people and children around the world who hope to overcome the difficulties that an unequal society poses to the lower classes and also inspires thousands of black girls.
Daiane dos Santos, brazilian Gymnastics’ legend, congratulates Jade Barbosa and the national team on their historical Olympic Bronze Medal.
Daiane was one of the most important athletes that paved the way for this medal and I wanted to subtitle this lovely exchange between her and Jade on live television. Interview for SportTv2.
commented on a gymnastics video about how it was a shame that the international broadcast for yesterday's world championship women's finals didn't show julia soares' from brazil solo because i loved it (i watched the brazilian broadcast that did show it), she did so well especially considering she had just fallen off the beam, she aced it and helped give confidence back to the whole team and then linked to the only youtube video i could find for it. and then a middle aged slightly butch woman replied with "thank you dear, i'm going to watch it. big hug!"
what i'm getting at is that my rizz is off the charts women love me
The Paris Olympics is over, but I'm in time to show admiration to Rebeca Andrade, and also Daiane dos Santos, one of our most important artistic gymnasts, a legend and inspiration that opened the door to our new queen, Rebeca.
Daiane dos Santos, Brazilian gymnastics’ legend, congratulates Jade Barbosa and the national team on their historical Olympic Bronze Medal.
Daiane is one of the most important gymnasts who paved the way for this medal and I wanted to subtitle and share this lovely moment between her and Jade on national television. Interview for Sportv2.
i want to make this a separate post instead of tacking it onto the last post i reblogged, because a) i feel like its getting way too far away from the point of the OP and as someone who has been in that position several times on my main blog its annoying as shit, and b) i dont want it to feel like anybody is ganging up on OP or "dragging" them or whatever, i dont think what they said was mean spirited or came from a place of bad faith etc etc etc. (if i did i would have been a whole fucking lot meaner in replying lmfao) and i also dont think anything it said was Wrong tbh.
okay all that being said!
i will put my tags of my last reblog in the main text here, because this is something i want to expand on:
not to get too Deep about it but. the colonizing countries literally have more wealth and resources and opportunity *because* th#*they stole so much from the global south. they have the $ and the stability to develop ‘frivolous’ things like gym#at the direct expense of the colonies who are left penniless and in perpetual chaos and upheaval
(for context this is re: children of immigrants in diaspora and their connections to their parents'/grandparents' homelands and culture, and maintaining those ties when the reason they came to the global north are for increased opportunity for success and upward mobility etc.)
i wont turn this into a treatise on economic exploitation and its consequences like i alluded to in the tags (i would if i had like 3 glasses of wine tho lol) but the following is something i really do want to underscore:
i love nemour for a lot of reasons. the gymnastics itself, yes of course. i know i snark and make jokes all the time about her shitting on the FFG every time she does anything great under the 🇩🇿 flag. but sincerely, what she is doing for gymnastics in algeria, in north africa in general (hell even in africa overall given the attention that african champs got because of her), is truly something special. i will admit that i dont stay on top of algerian sports media lol but i do speak french and what ive seen, just what has come across my radar, in the francophone algerian press (both in france and in algeria) is drumming up major excitement about her. this is the kind of attention that gets people who otherwise wouldnt give a shit emotionally invested in the sport. the social and historical baggage of the treatment of algeria and algerians in france, and the olympics being in paris, is just the icing on the cake.
its not exactly the same dynamic, especially not in terms of the Discourse about resources and access in diaspora, but i cant help but to be reminded of daiane dos santos, who famously started the sport at the age of 12. and only 8 years later she became a world champion on floor. she was the first world champion in WAG from brazil, south america entirely in fact, ever!!!! rebeca andrade mentions her all the time as an inspiration for her as a little girl. rebe went out of her way (i mean that figuratively as well as very literally, we all know the story about her brothers escorting her through the favela to the gym and back) to do the sport, because she saw dos santos do great things and looked up to her. and now shes REBECA FUCKING ANDRADE. would we have Rebe™ if it hadnt been for daiane? no probably not!
i guess it just..... not "upsets" me, thats not the word im looking for, but maybe gives me pause when i see anybody say (about any of the aforementioned US-born gymnasts representing other countries, not just in this case with nemour) that its opportunistic or undeserved to be competing under the flag of a country your parent(s) came from but you've never properly lived in. because...... isnt that the whole purpose of the multi-generational Narrative Arc? dont they pick up their whole lives and move to "wealthy" countries to pursue better lives for themselves, and more importantly, for their children? and then their children do take advantage of those opportunities they would not have gotten back "home" and reach the highest levels of a (very expensive and, until very recently, highly "inaccessible") sport. and then there's a chorus of "well it isn't like she's FROM from there and came up from the ranks within that country." i mean you're not wrong but thats.... kinda the point!!! she couldnt have done it at "home," shes a clear example of how much talent there is in places that are torn apart and dirt fucking poor and how if you give those people the opportunity, they can be really fucking good at this! world class, even!
she is, in a very REAL sense, "representing" algeria. if she does well in paris (🧿🧿🧿🧿 *furiously knocking on every wooden surface in my apt*) she will become an emblematic iconic sports star for algeria. she will be the reason a ton of little girls in algeria (and even franco-algériennes in france) will want to sign up for gymnastics! she will have (and has already had, by the looks of it) a tangible impact on the popularity and the future of the sport in algeria. it cannot be overstated how fucking much that means.
o que as mulheres estão ensinando ao mundo nestas olimpíadas
as mulheres estão ensinando pro mundo que competição não é discórdia, muito menos ódio. ninguém precisa ser diminuído pela derrota e todos ganham dando o seu melhor com alegria. até quem está ao redor, injustamente taxado como perdedor, se beneficia quando a conquista é compartilhada.
nós estamos, homens e mulheres, acostumados a ambientes esportivos tensos, infestados de desprezo, desumanidade e preconceito (o futebol masculino e suas arquibancadas que o digam). de repente as mulheres assumem o protagonismo em paris e provam que ninguém deveria ter medo de ser atleta; que, apesar de tanto trabalho árduo pra garantir vaga nas competições mundiais, no fundo a disputa sempre é contra si mesmo. a conquista de uma medalha, seja ela qual for, não significa passar por cima dos adversários, mas superar um desafio traçado por cada um que se define como atleta, seja amador ou profissional. desafio este estabelecido muitos anos atrás, no comecinho da carreira, antes mesmo de participar de competições.
é emocionante e triste ao mesmo tempo acompanhar desabafos como o de rafaela silva, do judô, que confessou em rede nacional que antigamente as pessoas fechavam o vidro do carro com medo de serem assaltadas por ela e hoje baixam o vidro para parabenizá-la; ou então a história da também judoca beatriz souza, que ouviu piadinhas gordofóbicas e agora conquistou as medalhas de ouro e bronze; a bronca da skatista rayssa leal na galera da cazé tv, por ter estimulado a torcida pela queda das adversárias; por fim, o depoimento de daiane dos santos aos canais sportv, onde ressaltou a importância da pessoa preta para o esporte mundial: “quando o atleta negro vence, a sociedade o torna pertencente; quando não vence, é atacado e, como de costume, marginalizado.”
não que a soberania física da pele preta seja uma novidade, mas faz-se necessário ser falada constantemente pois parece que fazemos questão de esquecer. e, como vi alguém dizendo por aí, está sendo uma péssima olimpíada para os racistas.
quem não perde tempo pensando em prejudicar o outro chega muito mais longe. mais uma vez, as mulheres dando aulas de comportamento e verdadeira competitividade. ensinando que o esporte pode e deve ser, sim, um lugar seguro para todos.