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Brazilian gymnast Flavia Saraiva shared a video showing her falling off the uneven bars during the Paris Olympics and suffering an eye injury.
“During warmup, you split your eyebrow open,” she wrote in the video she posted to her Instagram story. “Going to the hospital? If your name is Flavia Saraiva, no.
The video shows Saraiva losing her grip on the uneven bars and falling. The video then shifts to scenes of Saraiva successfully completing gymnastics moves on the uneven bars and balance beam. The next scenes showed her with a black and bruised eye and a bandage over her eye. The Mirror called it a “nasty” fall and reported that Saraiva continued to compete, helping the Brazilian team win a bronze medal in the women’s gymnastics team final in Paris.
On Instagram, Saraiva posted a photo showing her with the Brazilian women’s Olympic team. “Thank you, Brazil 🇧🇷❤️ This moment is ours!!!! There were many hands for this conquest, we are victorious. I love you guys ❤️” she wrote. She also posted a cartoon of a gymnast falling off the uneven bars and happy scenes of her in Paris.
People Praised Flavia Saraiva on Social Media for Continuing to Compete After the Fall & Eye Injury
People praised Saraiva for her perseverance on X. “Flávia Saraiva🇧🇷 who is Brazil’s #2 gymnast and is without exaggeration irreplaceable to this team. She suffered a facial injury during warmups, threw a band-aid on it, competed through the competition, and led her country to its first-ever Olympic team medal,” wrote one person.
“Flavia Saraiva is a Queen! What amazing spirit and strength. ❤️🇧🇷” another person wrote on X.
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GettyBrazil’s Flavia Saraiva reacts with her coach after competing in the uneven bars event of the artistic gymnastics women’s team final during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games at the Bercy Arena in Paris, on July 30, 2024.
Another person wrote, “Flavia Saraiva! What a warrior! The Brazilian 🇧🇷 gymnast fell off eight feet from her bar and kneed herself, got a black eye, she got up, and dusted herself off. She ended up getting her country’s first-ever medal in women’s event.”
Flavia Saraiva Believes Her Knee ‘Hit My Eye’ When She Tripped
Saraiva was bleeding from the injury, The Associated Press reported.
“I could not see, it bled, but the team’s doctor told me everything was all right,” Saraiva said, according to the Associated Press. “I believe my knee hit my eye when I tripped. It’s not the first time it happens to me. Maybe I will need some stitches.”
According to the AP, the fall initially raised concerns that Brazil’s hopes for a team medal were ruined.
“We are warriors,” she said, according to the AP, which reported, “She was cautious on the bars and did not fall on the beam, then performed an easier version of her floor exercise and finished off her night with a strong vault.”
Saraiva also competed in the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio, according to her biography on Olympics.com.
She has multiple nicknames, the site reports: “Flavinha (Little Flavia, due to her small stature), Gigante (Giant), Pequena Notavel (Great Little One).” The biography page lists a series of other injuries over the years:
0 CommentsNovember 2022: Right ankle. Underwent a second surgery for an injury sustained in 2021.
2021: Surgery on right ankle.
2022: Right ankle. Injured her ligament and tendon on the vault in qualifications at the world championships in Liverpool, England and withdrew from the individual all-around final.
2018: Burnout. A condition she overcame with the help of a psychologist, her family and coach. “I was desperate. I wanted to cry all the time. I would go into the gym and say, ‘I need to leave’.” Her psychologist helped her “accept myself.” (estadio-com-br, 8 Oct 2023)
August 2017: Spinal injury kept her out of action for about five months.
