“My body doesn’t define me”, says Rebecca, from beach volleyball –

At tokyo olympics, Rebecca Cavalcante and the double, Ana Patricia Ramos, ended the partnership occupying fifth place in the Beach Volleyball ranking. At the age of 28, in addition to her previous medals and achievements, the athlete shares the courts and love for the sport with her daughter, Isabella, 8 years old. And, as expected, her routine is as hectic as the decisive set of an important match.

“The life of a professional athlete is incredible, but it is very difficult, whatever the modality or the profession you choose”, she tells . “I think the big advantage is doing what I love. I grew up playing volleyball, my whole family played, and I managed to reach high performance. I have incredible opportunities, I realize many dreams through my profession, but it also involves a lot of sacrifice. Physical and emotional. Being an athlete means always having to be 100% and that is often very difficult.”

The athlete says, however, that of all challenges you face in sport the hardest part is being away from the family and the daughter. The story of little Isabella, by the way, is quite remarkable in Rebecca’s life. She got pregnant, unplanned, at a very difficult time. Even so, she carries in her heart the certainty that her daughter was loved from the first moment.

“At that time, I was starting to dream about the Rio Games, and the plans were postponed. But without a doubt, it was the best thing that happened in my life. My daughter is the reason for everything,” she says. “Of course it was very difficult at many times. Motherhood is tough, especially in the early years. But I always had a good support network, with my husband always, so I managed to get along well”.

Rebecca says that, today, Isabella already understands her mother’s profession and that it’s great to have her in the crowd. Whenever she can, she chooses to take her husband and daughter to training, which guarantees an extra dose of calm to focus on the sport. “I know that I am part of a minority that managed to reconcile the profession and motherhood in a legal way. For this, I am very grateful to my parents and my family in general, who are very supportive, ”she reflects.

Rebecca Cavalcante (Júlio César Guimarães/COB/Disclosure)

Reviews of the Body and Strength of an Olympic Athlete

During the Tokyo Olympics, Rebecca made a decision: not to keep Instagram installed on her cell phone. The idea was leave social networks aside to stay focused on the games. “Earlier we decided that this would be the best strategy and it was the best thing I did. I only went to see the reviews afterwards, ”she says.

Well, even with a brilliant career in beach volleyball, presenting the best results since 2019 with the duo Ana Patrícia, Rebecca found herself facing a series of criticisms about her physical form, which, according to some internet users, does not fit in beauty standards.

“I try not to get carried away,” he continues. “People don’t know me, they don’t know my story, and they think they can opine about me that way. I’m a high-performance athlete, I train every day, I’m physically involved, I dedicate myself a lot and I won the Olympic vacancy together with my partner on our merits. Nothing was ever given to us. So, that, from the beginning, should already be respected. My body does not define me, just as a fit body does not define who has it.”

For her, these comments are just an expression of people who think they have the right to say what they think about others, especially on the internet. “If I play badly, everyone falls on top of me, if I play well, everyone praises me. So the path is not to take any extreme too seriously, ”she explains.

Either way, Rebecca feels she came out of the last Olympics fortified. Despite the criticism, she says she received an “avalanche of affection”, with positive messages, and new followers on Instagram. “People still send me messages missing seeing me play in the Olympics and that’s really cool. In the end, the support was much greater. But I hope this culture changes”, she says.

Athlete self-care: is it possible?

As a high-performance athlete, one would imagine that time is short to self care routines, right? But Rebecca explains that self-care is taking care of yourself as a whole. “Care is not just about the physical. By the way, the most important thing is our head. We need, above all, to be well with ourselves and with our head. Only in this way can I give the best of myself, ”she says.

Therefore, she seeks to remain physically and emotionally balanced, relying on her support team and specialized doctors. “I’m always looking to be the best version of myself!”, she jokes.

And the next steps?

After Tokyo, Rebecca and Ana announced the end of their partnership. Together since 2017, they won a Brazilian title and steps on the World Tour. Now, grateful for the Olympic experience, each one goes their own way, still without new defined pairs. But the goal, of course, is the Paris games in 2024.

“I think only those who compete in the Olympics understand what it is. It’s an energy you can’t explain. The whole world together, the best in the world, the Olympic village is something I will never forget in my life. I left Tokyo with that feeling of wanting more. So, my plan is to train hard to get there again”, he says.

With this, it is not without reason that Rebecca feels such a great affection for the sport. After all, according to her, he was the one who brought her family and all the experiences that make her aim higher and higher in her career. “Volleyball gave me my family, so volleyball is everything to me. And I want it to be more and more, because I want to continue winning titles, representing my country, my sponsors and inspiring people, ”she says. “I carry my whole Northeast with me, we have a strong history in beach volleyball that I want to continue sowing.”