Despite Simone Biles and Rebeca Andrade’s absence from the podium for the balance beam finals, both Olympic stars were the epitome of Black Girls Magic and put on an historic show at the Paris Games as the two headliners for women’s gymnastics.
It’s rare that two women of color, from two different countries so thoroughly dominate the Olympic gymnastics stage.
Was Rebeca Andrade Robbed Of Medal In Beam?
It’s also a bit eyebrow-raising when Andrade received scores that seemed to shock both her and Simone Biles, who also missed medaling on the beam.
After it was clear that Biles wouldn’t be medaling, it seems that the forces of Black girl magic worked against Andrade whose flawless beam routine and the low scores that followed, conjured memories of earlier Olympics and gymnastic competitions where the scoring at times seemed unfathomable.
It also sparked outrage on social media.
Social Media Enraged Over Voting For Andrade On Beam
“The scoring for event should be reviewed! The score for Rebeca Andrade is ridiculous. Unfair!” said one fan.
“Unbelievable they stole (the gold) from rebeca from brazil! the one who fell came second,” said another fan.
“That beam had banana peels on it. I also don’t know how Andrade didn’t medal since her and Alice were the only ones to not make mistakes,” another fan complained.
At the conclusion of her routine, Andrade, according to reports, was the gold medal favorite in the eyes of many fans in attendance.
Italy’s Alice D’Amato Wins Gold Medal In Beam
Despite having the No. 2 execution score of the top eight participants, Andrade ended the balance beam final in fourth place, behind Alice D’Amato, Zhou Yaqin, and Manila Esposito.
Andrade earned a final score of 13.933, with an execution score of 8.233 and a difficulty score of 5.700.
The gold medal winner, Italy’s Alice D’Amato, had a final score of 14.366, with an execution score of 8.566 and a difficulty score of 5.800.
At the end of the day, D’Amato was the saving grace for non-melanated competitors as Andrade and Biles nearly swept every category.
It was probably a relief to some to see both Biles and Andrade fail to qualify for a medal in at least one event.
However, it didn’t appear as if Biles nor Andrade agreed with the scoring.
As the Brazilian star was taking a breather after her performance, Biles was seen chatting with Andrade, seemingly shocked at the final scorecard.
You can’t win em’ all, but when you set the personal standard that Biles and Andrade have, you almost have to be flawless or defy comprehension to get your props
Black Girl Magic: Simone Biles and Rebeca Andrade Dominated Olympics
Biles secured a gold medal in the Women’s Individual All-Around, Women’s Team All-Around, and Women’s Vault and a silver medal in Women’s Floor event.
Andrade, who moved away from her mom at 9 years old to pursue her Olympic dreams and the most decorated Olympian in Brazil history, earned a gold medal in Women’s Floor, a silver medal in Women’s Individual All-Around, another silver medal in Women’s Vault and a bronze medal in Women’s Team All-Around.
They swept up. It was almost embarrassing. Winning all those individual events was like rubbing in it. Let’s just say the judges wanted to let another country eat and any imperfection in either champion’s routine was an opening to spread some gold medal love at the Olympics.
I get it.
