Liverpool (AFP) - Brazil’s Rebeca Andrade grabbed all-around gold at the World Gymnastics Championships in Liverpool on Thursday to cement her status as the sport’s newest megastar.
In the absence of US great Simone Biles, the 23-year-old outstripped her American rivals to become the first Brazilian gymnast to win a world all-around title.
Andrade, who was the favourite, is only the second South American to win a medal in the event after compatriot Jade Barbosa’s share of bronze in 2007.
The Brazilian began with a superb vault and took a lead she never looked like surrendering as she upgraded the silver she took home in the competition last year at the delayed Tokyo Olympics.
She scored 56.899 at Liverpool's M&S Bank Arena.America's Shilese Jones was second, with 55.399, followed by Great Britain's Jessica Gadirova (55.199), whose bronze is the first for a British woman at the global event.
"Everything always happens when it needs to," said Andrade."I am really happy to have done everything I could, and not lose the competition on my bar routine.
"I did my beam routine with all the connections and all the difficulty, and that was one of my best floor routines ever.I'm so proud of myself."
The Brazilian had a breakthrough year in 2021, winning gold in the vault competition at the Tokyo Games, repeating that feat at the world championships in Kitakyushu, also held in Japan, two months later
She made her senior international debut in 2015 but a succession of injuries hampered her progress until last year in Tokyo, where she became the first Brazilian woman to claim Olympic gold in artistic gymnastics.
