Photojournalist Mathilde Missioneiro, from Sheetwas the winner of the 41st Aceesp Award (Association of Sports Chroniclers of the State of São Paulo), in the image of the year category, for recording Brazilian gymnast Rebeca Andrade celebrating the silver medal in the vault event at the Paris Olympic Games.
The recording was made at the exact moment the athlete holds the Brazilian flag, which resembles the shape of a heart.
Mathilde managed to take a different and standout photo in the middle of one of the most covered sporting events in the world. “My challenge was to choose the best place to be well positioned for both the competition and the medal presentation,” he said.
“When the results came out, she went to celebrate, her coach gave her a flag and she was jumping for joy right next to where I was. At the moment, I confess that I didn’t even see the heart shape”, she said, which sums up the photo as a mix of technique and a little luck.
The silver at Arena Bercy, in the French capital, marked an important moment: with it, Rebeca tied for first place in the ranking of Brazilian Olympic medalists with Robert Scheidt and Torben Grael, from sailing, with five podiums — she had already won in France bronze in teams and silver in individual all-around.
The draw, however, was short-lived. Soon after, the athlete isolated herself as the greatest medalist in Brazilian history – both in quantity and quality – with gold in the floor test.
The award-winning photo was selected based on curation by Arfoc-SP (Association of Photographic and Cinematographic Reporters in the State of São Paulo).
