Jessica Gadirova
Gadirova at the 2022 European Championships
Personal information
Country represented
Born (2004-10-03) 3 October 2004 (age 19)[1]
Dublin, Ireland[2]
DisciplineWomen's artistic gymnastics
LevelSenior international elite
Years on national team2019–present (GBR)
ClubAylesbury Gymnastics Academy[3]
Head coach(es)Molly Richardson, Joshua Richardson
Medal record
Women's artistic gymnastics
Representing  Great Britain
Olympic Games
Bronze medal – third place 2020 Tokyo Team
World Championships
Gold medal – first place 2022 Liverpool Floor Exercise
Silver medal – second place 2022 Liverpool Team
Bronze medal – third place 2022 Liverpool All-Around
European Championships
Gold medal – first place 2021 Basel Floor Exercise
Gold medal – first place 2022 Munich Floor Exercise
Gold medal – first place 2023 Antalya Team
Gold medal – first place 2023 Antalya All-Around
Gold medal – first place 2023 Antalya Floor Exercise
Silver medal – second place 2021 Basel Vault
Silver medal – second place 2022 Munich Team
Bronze medal – third place 2021 Basel All-Around
AwardsSee awards

Jessica Gadirova (born 3 October 2004) is an English artistic gymnast of Irish birth and Azerbaijani descent, representing Great Britain internationally.[4] She represented Great Britain at the 2020 Summer Olympics and won a bronze medal in the team event and was part of the silver medal-winning team at the 2022 World Championships and gold medal-winning team at the 2023 European Artistic Gymnastics Championships.

Individually, she is the 2022 World champion on floor exercise, the second British female and third Briton to win a World title on the apparatus (after Beth Tweddle and Giarnni Regini-Moran) as well as a three-time European champion on the same event (in 2021, 2022 and 2023). She is the first female gymnast to win three successive floor titles at the European Artistic Gymnastics Championships, and the first of either sex since Franco Menichelli in 1965.

She is the 2023 European all-around champion, the second Briton after Ellie Downie to achieve that feat, and the 2022 World and 2021 European all-around bronze medalist. Additionally she is the 2021 European vault silver medalist. Gadirova became the first female gymnast to win three gold medals at the same European Championships since Cătălina Ponor for Romania in 2004, and the first to win the all-around title in doing so since Svetlana Khorkina for Russia in 2002.

She competed at the inaugural 2019 Junior World Championships alongside her twin sister, Jennifer. She was the first Irish-born gymnast to win a gymnastics World title in 2022; Rhys McClenaghan won the first gold medal for Ireland days later.

Domestically, Gadirova is a three-time English, three-time British champion.

Personal life

Gadirova and her twin sister Jennifer were born in Dublin, Ireland, and are of Azerbaijani descent.[5] Their father, Natig Gadirov, and their mother are from Azerbaijan and emigrated to London in 2001. Gadirova was born in Ireland while her parents worked there for a few months before returning to England. As a result, she has Azeri, Irish and British citizenship.[6][7] Her paternal grandparents live in Baku: her grandmother is a retired paediatrician, and her grandfather is a professor in physics and mathematics.[8] Gadirova and her sister began gymnastics at six years old because their mother wanted them to have an outlet for their energy.[4]

Junior gymnastics career

Espoir: 2016

In March Gadirova competed at the British Espoir Championships, where she placed 12th in the all-around and sixth on balance beam.[9]

Junior: 2018–19

In February of 2018 Gadirova competed at the English Championships, where she placed 23rd.[10] The following month she competed at the British Championships, where she placed seventh in the all-around, eighth on uneven bars, and sixth on floor exercise.[11] She ended the season competing at the British Team Championships, where she placed 11th in the junior non-squad all-around.[12]

In March of 2019 Gadirova competed at the English Championships, where she placed fourth behind Ondine Achampong, Halle Hilton, and Jennifer Gadirova.[13] Later that month she competed at the British Championships, where she placed seventh in the all-around, eighth on vault, fourth on uneven bars, and won bronze on floor exercise.[14] Gadirova next competed at the Flanders International Team Challenge, where she finished third in the all-around behind Romanians Ioana Stănciulescu and Silviana Sfiringu and helped Great Britain finish fourth as a team.[15]

In June Gadirova competed at the inaugural Junior World Championships in Győr, Hungary, alongside her twin sister Jennifer and Alia Leat. In the team final they finished in sixth place and individually Gadirova finished 33rd in the all-around.[16]

Vault
Uneven bars
Balance beam
Floor exercise
Gadirova at the 2019 Junior World Championships

In July Gadirova competed at the Sainté Gym Cup, where she helped Great Britain win team gold.[17] In September she competed at the 2019 Women's British Teams Championships, finishing first in the junior all-around, ahead of her sister. Additionally, she helped Aylesbury finish first as a team.[18]

Senior gymnastics career

2021

Gadirova turned senior in 2020, but did not compete due to the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic. In April 2021 she was selected to represent Great Britain at the European Championships alongside her twin sister Jennifer (later replaced by Phoebe Jakubczyk),[19] Alice Kinsella, and Amelie Morgan.[20] During qualifications, Gadirova qualified to the all-around final, despite suffering a hard fall off of the balance beam. Additionally, Gadirova qualified to the vault final in first place and the floor exercise final in third place.[21] In the all-around final Gadirova won the bronze medal behind Russians Viktoria Listunova and Angelina Melnikova.[22][23] She is the second British female artistic gymnast after Ellie Downie to win an all-around medal at the European Championships. During the vault final, Gadirova finished second behind Olympic and World vault medalist Giulia Steingruber.[24] On the final day of the competition Gadirova won gold on floor exercise ahead of Melnikova and former world all-around champion Vanessa Ferrari, making her the first British floor exercise champion since Beth Tweddle won in 2010.[25]

On 7 June, Gadirova was selected to represent Great Britain at the 2020 Summer Olympics alongside her twin sister Jennifer, Alice Kinsella, and Amelie Morgan.[26] At the Olympic Games, Gadirova qualified to the all-around and floor exercise finals; additionally, Great Britain qualified for the team final. During the team final, Gadirova performed on vault, uneven bars, and floor exercise, hitting all of her routines and helping Great Britain win the bronze medal, their first Olympic team medal in 93 years.[27] During the all-around final Gadirova fell off the balance beam, but still finished tenth place overall. In doing so she became the highest placing British gymnast in an Olympic all-around final, surpassing Becky Downie's 12th-place finish in 2008.[28] During the floor exercise event final Gadirova performed a clean routine and earned a score of 14.000, finishing in sixth place.[29]

In December 2021 Gadirova became a brand ambassador for gymnastics leotard manufacturer Milano Pro-Sport.[30]

2022

In March, Gadirova competed at the English Championships, where she won the all-around and also took gold on vault and floor.[31]

Gadirova vaulting at the 2022 European Championships

Later that month, Gadirova competed at the British Championships in Liverpool, where she took gold in the all-around with a score of 54.650, ahead of her Aylesbury teammates Ondine Achampong and her sister Jennifer.[32] She then went on to win gold on vault and floor as well as silver on beam.[33] In July, Gadirova was selected to compete at the European Championships alongside her sister Jennifer, Achampong, Georgia-Mae Fenton, and Alice Kinsella.[34] In August, Gadriova competed at the European Championships. She contributed scores on vault and floor exercise towards Great Britain's second-place finish.[35] During event finals, Gadirova won gold on floor exercise for the second consecutive year. Gadirova was also named Gymnast of the Year 2021 by European Gymnastics, alongside Boryana Kaleyn and Ferhat Arıcan.[36]

In September, Gadirova was named to the team to compete at the 2022 World Championships, once again alongside her twin sister Jennifer, Achampong, Kinsella, and Fenton.[37] She helped Great Britain qualify to the team final and individually she qualified to the all-around, vault, and floor exercise finals. During the team final, Gadirova competed on vault, uneven bars, and floor exercise, helping Great Britain win the silver medal and achieve their highest placement at a World Championships. Additionally Gadirova posted the highest floor exercise score of the competition.[38] During the all-around final Gadirova placed third behind Rebeca Andrade and Shilese Jones, earning Great Britain's first World all-around medal.[39] Gadirova withdrew from the vault final. On the last day of competition she competed in the floor exercise final. She was the last competitor to compete and earned a score 14.200 to win the title. She became the second British woman to win the floor exercise title after Beth Tweddle did so in 2009. Gadirova was the second British gymnast to win a gold medal at these World Championships after Giarnni Regini-Moran won the men's floor exercise title the previous day. At only 18 years and 34 days old, Gadirova became the youngest British gymnast to become a World Champion.[40] Due to her performances at the World Championships, Gadirova was named Sunday Times Young Sportswoman of the Year[41] and additionally won the Sports Journalists' Association Peter Wilson Trophy for international newcomer, alongside fellow British gymnast Jake Jarman.[42] In December, she won the BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year award.[43]

2023

Gadirova competed at the English Championships, where she placed fourth on uneven bars. She was named to the team to compete at the upcoming European Championships, alongside Becky Downie, Georgia-Mae Fenton, Ondine Achampong, and Alice Kinsella.[44]

At the European Championships. Gadirova helped Great Britain win their first team gold medal. Additionally she qualified to the all-around, balance beam, and floor exercise finals in first place.[45] During the all-around final, Gadirova scored 55.032 to win gold ahead of Zsófia Kovács and Alice D'Amato.[46] During apparatus finals, Gadirova finished seventh on balance beam following a fall on dismount, but won her third consecutive title, and third gold of the championships on floor exercise.[47] She was awarded the master gymnast award for the tournament.

In September Gadirova was selected to represent Great Britain at the 2023 World Championships alongside Kinsella, Achampong, Fenton, and Ruby Evans.[48] She helped the British team to second place in qualifications as well as qualifying to the individual all-around, vault, balance beam, and floor exercise finals.[49] But in the team final, where Gadirova contributed on all four events, the team was unable to reach the same level as they did in qualifications and finished sixth.[50] On the day of the individual all-around event, British Gymnastics, in a surprise announcement, said that Gadirova had withdrawn from the all-around competition as a "precautionary measure" after she felt some pain during training and was replaced by teammate Kinsella.[51] The following day she withdrew from all other event finals. On 15 October, Gadirova posted on her Instagram account that her withdrawal from the individual all-around was because she had suffered a full tear of her anterior cruciate ligament in which she described as a "freak accident" whilst performing a gymnastics prep skill in training.[52]

Selected competitive skills

Apparatus Name Description Difficulty[a] Performed
Vault López Yurchenko half-on entry, laid out salto forwards with ½ twist 4.8 2021–22
Baitova Yurchenko entry, laid out salto backwards with two twists 5.0 2021–23
Cheng Yurchenko half-on entry, laid out salto forwards with 1.5 twists 5.6 2023
Uneven Bars Van Leeuwen Toe-on Shaposhnikova transition with ½ twist to high bar E 2021–22
Tweddle Toe-on Tkatchev with ½ turn F 2021
Balance Beam Double pike Dismount: Double piked salto backwards E 2021–23
Floor Exercise Mukhina Full-twisting (1/1) double tucked salto backwards E 2021
Double Layout Double laid out salto backwards F 2021–23
Chusovitina Full-twisting (1/1) double laid out salto backwards H 2022-23
Silivas Double-twisting (2/1) double tucked salto backwards H 2021–23
Moors Double-twisting (2/1) double laid out salto backwards I 2023
  1. ^ Valid for the 2021-2024 Code of Points

Competitive history

Year Event Team AA VT UB BB FX
Espoir
2016 British Espoir Championships 12 6
Junior
2018 English Championships 23
British Championships 7 8 6
British Team Championships 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) 11
2019 English Championships 4
British Championships 7 8 4 3rd place, bronze medalist(s)
FIT Challenge 4 3rd place, bronze medalist(s)
Junior World Championships 6
Sainté Gym Cup 1st place, gold medalist(s) 7
British Team Championships 1st place, gold medalist(s) 1st place, gold medalist(s)
Senior
2021
European Championships 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) 2nd place, silver medalist(s) 1st place, gold medalist(s)
Olympic Games 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) 10 6
2022 English Championships 1st place, gold medalist(s) 1st place, gold medalist(s) 4 4 1st place, gold medalist(s)
British Championships 1st place, gold medalist(s) 1st place, gold medalist(s) 2nd place, silver medalist(s) 1st place, gold medalist(s)
European Championships 2nd place, silver medalist(s) 10 5 1st place, gold medalist(s)
World Championships 2nd place, silver medalist(s) 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) WD 1st place, gold medalist(s)
2023 British Championships 4 2nd place, silver medalist(s)
European Championships 1st place, gold medalist(s) 1st place, gold medalist(s) 7 1st place, gold medalist(s)
World Championships 6 WD WD WD WD

Awards

Year Award Result Ref
2021 European Gymnast of the Year Won [36]
2022 Sunday Times Young Sportswomen of the Year Won [41]
SJA Peter Wilson Trophy Won [42]
BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year Won [43]
BBC Sports Personality of the Year Nominated [53]

References

  1. ^ "Entry List by NOC - 1st FIG Artistic Gymnastics Junior World Championships" (PDF). FIG. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 July 2019. Retrieved 14 April 2021.
  2. ^ "Athlete profile - Jessica Gadirova". International Gymnastics Federation. Retrieved 27 July 2021.
  3. ^ "Wall Of Fame". Aylesbury Gymnastics Academy.
  4. ^ a b "GADIROVA Jessica". FIG.
  5. ^ Johnson, Anna Rose (8 July 2019). "Double Determination: Jennifer and Jessica Gadirova". Inside Gymnastics Magazine. Retrieved 22 August 2020.
  6. ^ "Азербайджанки Джессика и Дженнифер – будущие суперзвезды и главные надежды Великобритании". Haqqin (in Russian). 24 April 2021.
  7. ^ "Natig Gadirov: Jennifer And Jessica Are Fighters". Gymnovosti. 26 April 2021.
  8. ^ Натик Гадиров – об успехе азербайджанских гимнасток: Они должны вернуть долг Великобритании, где выросли и обучились всему
  9. ^ "2016 British Espoir Championships Results". The Gymternet. 3 December 2016.
  10. ^ "2018 English Championships Results". 11 February 2018.
  11. ^ "2018 British Championships Results". The Gymternet. 12 March 2018.
  12. ^ "2018 British Team Championships Results". The Gymternet. 18 September 2018.
  13. ^ "2019 English Championships Results". The Gymternet. 5 March 2019.
  14. ^ "2019 British Championships Results". The Gymternet. 18 March 2020.
  15. ^ "2019 FIT Challenge Results". The Gymternet. 10 June 2019.
  16. ^ "2019 Junior World Championships Results". The Gymternet. 2 July 2019.
  17. ^ "2019 Sainté Gym Cup Results". The Gymternet. 8 July 2019.
  18. ^ "The Academy come out on top in battle of British teams - British Gymnastics". www.british-gymnastics.org. Archived from the original on 19 March 2020. Retrieved 19 March 2020.
  19. ^ @BritGymnastics (15 April 2021). "There's a change to our line up for the European Championships" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  20. ^ "British gymnasts announced for 2021 Artistic European Championships". British Gymnastics. 1 April 2021. Archived from the original on 15 April 2021. Retrieved 14 April 2021.
  21. ^ "Iordache secures Olympic ticket as Melnikova shines at qualifications at #Basel2021". European Gymnastics. 21 April 2021.
  22. ^ @UEGymnastics (23 April 2021). "Congratulations to all participants and medalists in the women's all-around final at #Basel2021" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  23. ^ "Viktoria Listunova wins first European gymnastics all-around title". Olympic Channel. 23 April 2021.
  24. ^ "Three medals for British gymnasts on amazing day of finals at European Championships". British Gymnastics. 24 April 2021. Archived from the original on 25 April 2021. Retrieved 24 April 2021.
  25. ^ "European Gymnastics: Jessica Gadirova wins gold in floor event". BBC. 25 April 2021.
  26. ^ "Women's artistic gymnastics team named by Team GB for Tokyo Olympics". British Gymnastics. 7 June 2021. Retrieved 7 June 2021.
  27. ^ "Tokyo Olympics: Team GB win bronze in women's team gymnastics for first time since 1928". Sky News. 27 July 2021.
  28. ^ "Jessica Gadirova makes history in Olympic all-around final". British Gymnastics. 29 July 2021.
  29. ^ "Jessica Gadirova 6th and Jennifer 7th in Olympic floor final". British Gymnastics. 2 August 2021.
  30. ^ "Jessica and Jennifer Gadirova Announced as Milano's New Brand Ambassadors". Total Licensing. 16 December 2021. Retrieved 4 April 2022.
  31. ^ "2022 English Championships results". The Gymternet. 13 March 2022.
  32. ^ "Gadirova and Fraser win British all-around titles". British Gymnastics\date=March 26, 2022.
  33. ^ "Apparatus finals conclude brilliant British". British Gymnastics. 27 March 2022.
  34. ^ "Team announced for 2022 Artistic European Championships". British Gymnastics. 4 July 2022.
  35. ^ "Italy win artistic gymnastics team gold at European Championships". International Olympic Committee. 13 August 2022.
  36. ^ a b "Gymnast of the Year 2021". European Gymnastics. 15 August 2022.
  37. ^ "Unchanged GBR women's team named for World Gymnastics Championships". British Gymnastics. 28 September 2022.
  38. ^ "Historic world silver for women's team in Liverpool". British Gymnastics. 1 November 2022.
  39. ^ "Rebeca Andrade wins Brazil's first world all-around gymnastics title". NBC Sports. 3 November 2022. Retrieved 3 November 2022.
  40. ^ "Jessica Gadirova crowned world floor champion". British Gymnastics. 6 November 2022.
  41. ^ a b "Jessica Gadirova: The 18-year-old raising the bar for British gymnastics". The Sunday Times. 20 November 2022.
  42. ^ a b "Team Muirhead Take Third at SJA Awards While Jake Wightman Wins Sportsman of the Year". Team GB. 8 December 2022.
  43. ^ a b "Young Sports Personality of the Yeaenglish chr 2022: Gymnast Jessica Gadirova wins award". BBC. 21 December 2022.
  44. ^ "British team announced for European Championships". British Gymnastics. 21 March 2023.
  45. ^ "Womens team win historic European gold". British Gymnastics. 12 April 2023.
  46. ^ "European Artistic Gymnastics Championships 2023: Britain's Jessica Gadirova wins sensational all-around title". International Olympic Committee. 14 April 2023.
  47. ^ "Jessica Gadirova seals European golden gymnastics treble as Kinsella wins silver". The Guardian. 16 April 2023.
  48. ^ "Women's team announced to complete World Championships line up". British Gymnastics. 4 September 2023.
  49. ^ "Simone Biles: American lands historic vault on World Championships return in Antwerp".
  50. ^ "World Gymnastics Championships: Simone Biles leads US to team gold as GB finish sixth".
  51. ^ "Jessica Gadirova withdraws from World Championships".
  52. ^ "Jessica Gadirova admits to "tough and long journey ahead" after suffering full ACL tear at World Championships".
  53. ^ "Jessica Gadirova shortlisted for BBC Sports Personality". British Gymnastics. 20 December 2022.
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