Brazil’s Letícia Costa has announced that she started training again and is now on the gymnastics team at Fluminense club. Costa was on the 2015 Worlds team but didn’t make the Olympic team because of an injury. She briefly retired but returned to training in 2017 competing for the Flamengo club (the one where Jade Barbosa and Flavia Saraiva train) and even took the fourth place at the Brazilian Championships in August. However, as she was not likely to make any finals, she was not selected for the Worlds team as Brazil decided to send only two gymnasts. Now, in a new club, Costa hopes to get back to a high competitive level and start making international teams again.
Translation from Portuguese by Clara Silva.
After staying away from gymnastics because of muscle injuries, Letícia Costa was announced as the newest member of Fluminense’s gymnastics team. At 22, the gymnast arrives in Rio feeling refreshed and hoping to fight for a spot in Tokyo 2020.
Letícia didn’t make the team in Rio, in 2016, because of a series of muscle injuries. Disappointed, she announced her retirement from the sport. But she changed her mind. Now a member of Fluminense, Leticia expects to be competing at high-level once more:
“Missing the Olympics due to injury discouraged me, so I took some time off to think about what I really wanted. Fluminense welcomed me with open arms; they gave me a lot of support and promised to help as much as they could. I’m hoping to be embraced by the club, I’m going to work to have a good year. I’ve been a gymnast since I was 4, it’s a very competitive environment and I’ve always liked it that way. I like winning, I like giving my best, because I’m a perfectionist. Since 2016 gymnastics has evolved a lot in every club in Brazil. I believe we are getting very close to world-class level”.
