During the women’s team gymnastics final at the Olympics, Brazilian gymnast Flavia Saraiva wore a notable accessory: a bandage over her eye.
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Saraiva suffered an injury while warming up on the uneven bars, resulting in a fall that caused a cut above her right eye. In photographs, her eyebrow looked bloodied, and she appeared to have a black eye.
The 24-year-old gymnast received medical attention following her alarming fall and later reemerged with a bandage wrapped above her eye.
After being bandaged up, Saraiva executed her routine on the uneven bars at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, achieving an impressive score of 13.666. She then treated audiences with a floor routine set to a classic French cabaret tune, as reported by NBC News.
Flavia, a competitor in both the Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, overcame significant injuries in the past. She has previously shared her experiences of pushing through the challenges following multiple ankle surgeries, which led her to question her ability to compete in Paris 2024.
“Every time I returned, I felt something different, another foot injury,” she told Olympics.com. “I wondered ‘what’s my year gonna be like?’ Many people know, but I wanted to stop training.” However, she pushed herself to focus.
“I said, ‘What am I doing here?’ I can’t compete in my best form. I always want to be among the best,” she added.
Flavia Saraiva Helps the Brazilian Gymnastics Teams Medal Despite Her Eye Injury
Indeed, today, Saraiva took her rightful place among the best.
In the end, the USA claimed the gold medal, while Italy secured silver and Brazil took home bronze—historic achievements for each of these nations.
Italy had not won a medal in team gymnastics for 96 years, while Brazil, despite being a strong contender for silver in the competition, had never secured a team medal at the Olympic Games.
Despite Flavia Saraiva’s injury, the team achieved a historic milestone by securing its first-ever bronze medal.
Of course, proud fans rushed to social media to congratulate the Brazilian gymnast for toughing out her eye injury.
On X user proclaimed: “now she has an eye bandage and brazil’s first-ever medal in women’s team gymnastics!” A second fan added, “she just won bronze!!!”.
“Flavia Saraiva missed the bar during warmups and took a hard fall, dropped some tears, got stitched up and a few minutes later, hit her full routine for her team. That’s my f–ing hero,” yet another fan added.
“SHE BROUGHT US A MEDAL!!!!!!!!!!!!! OUR PRIDE AND JOY”, a third excited fan wrote.