Brazilian gymnast Flavia Saraiva competed during the women’s team final at the Olympic Games on Tuesday with a bandaged face and black eye, having suffered a fall on the uneven bars during warmups just minutes before the competition began.
Flavia Saraiva performed on the uneven bars minutes after falling off during warmups. (Photo by ... [+]
Brazil competed on the uneven bars during the first rotation, but Saraiva’s fall happened during warmups, so her scores were not impacted.
Despite the injury, Saraiva performed on all four events during the team competition, achieving a solid score of 13.666 on the uneven bars just minutes after she fell, the second-highest score for Brazil on bars.
Saraiva had a visible black eye while competing Tuesday, and wore a bandage across her right eyebrow, while some pictures of the gymnast performing with the injuries went viral on social media.
Saraiva competed for the Brazilian team during the women’s gymnastics team final Tuesday alongside Rebeca Andrade, considered one of the best gymnasts in the competition and the biggest threat to American gymnast Simone Biles. The Brazilian team placed fourth in qualifications, well behind the United States, which placed first, but close behind Italy and China.
Saraiva previously competed at the 2016 Olympic Games in her native Brazil and at the 2020 Olympics, held in 2021 in Tokyo. She has represented Brazil at the world championships five times, winning a silver medal with the team and a bronze medal on floor exercise in 2023.
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