Why Rebeca Andrade Glitters in Workforce Brazil Leotard at Paris Olympics

Led by Rebeca Andrade, who Simone Biles known as the athlete “she fears probably the most” in her 2024 documentary “Simone Biles Rising,” Brazil’s crew introduced further shine to the inventive gymnastics girls’s crew ultimate in the course of the 2024 Paris Olympics on Tuesday. The gymnasts raised the competitors stage whereas carrying glowing and patriotic outfits designed by crew member Jade Barbosa.

Andrade and Barbosa joined Lorrane Oliveira, Flavia Saraiva and Julia Soares in darkish blue leotards that have been coated in yellow-gold crystals — each blue and yellow are a part of the Brazilian flag.

Barbosa, a four-time Olympian and a two-time particular person bronze medalist on the World Championships, has been a part of Workforce Brazil since 2008. When she first began competing, Barbosa would create her personal leotards with the assistance of her dad, César Barbosa. In 2018, Brazil’s inventive gymnastics girls’s crew acquired its first sponsorship deal by partnering with Ozone Leotards, an organization from Knoxville, Tenn. Since then, Barbosa has been answerable for designing the leotards in collaboration with Ozone.

In a video revealed on the official Brazilian gymnastics account on TikTok in 2018, Barbosa mentioned her inspirations for designing uniforms for competitions. She usually nods to Brazilian colours whereas additionally paying homage to traditional leotards worn by veteran athletes who have been a part of Brazilian gymnastics historical past.

Barbosa additionally designed the leotards worn by Workforce Brazil in the course of the inventive gymnastics girls’s qualification occasion on Day Two of the Paris Olympics on Sunday, in addition to the leotards worn by them in the course of the 2022 and 2023 World Championships and the Tokyo Olympics in 2021.