 Gadirova at the2022 European Championships | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Born | (2004-10-03)3 October 2004 (age 21)[2] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Relative | Jennifer Gadirova | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Gymnastics career | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Women's artistic gymnastics | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Country represented |  Great Britain(2019–present) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Club | Lynx Aylesbury[1] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Head coach(es) | Molly Richardson, Joshua Richardson | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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| Awards | See awards | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Jessica Gadirova (born 3 October 2004) is an Englishartistic gymnast of Irish birth andAzerbaijani descent, representingGreat Britain internationally.[4] She representedGreat Britain at the 2020 Summer Olympics and won a bronze medal inthe team event and was part of the silver medal-winning team at the2022 World Championships and gold medal-winning team at the2023 European Artistic Gymnastics Championships.
Individually, she is the2022 World champion on floor exercise, the second British female and third Briton to win a World title on the apparatus (afterBeth Tweddle andGiarnni Regini-Moran) as well as a three-time European champion on the same event (in2021,2022 and2023). She is the first female gymnast to win three successive floor titles at theEuropean Artistic Gymnastics Championships, and the first of either sex sinceFranco Menichelli in 1965.
She is the 2023 European all-around champion, the second Briton afterEllie 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 sinceCătălina Ponor for Romania in 2004, and the first to win the all-around title in doing so sinceSvetlana Khorkina for Russia in 2002.
She competed at the inaugural2019 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 and three-time British champion.
Gadirova and heridentical twin sisterJennifer were born inDublin, Ireland, and are ofAzerbaijani descent.[5][6] Their father, Natig Gadirov, and their mother are fromAzerbaijan 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 Azerbaijani, Irish and British citizenship.[7][8] Her paternal grandparents live inBaku: her grandmother is a retired paediatrician, and her grandfather is a professor in physics and mathematics.[9] Gadirova and her sister began gymnastics at six years old because their mother wanted them to have an outlet for their energy.[4]
In March, Gadirova competed at the British Espoir Championships, where she placed 12th in the all-around and sixth on balance beam.[10]
In February 2018, Gadirova competed at the English Championships, where she placed 23rd.[11] 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.[12] She ended the season competing at the British Team Championships, where she placed 11th in the junior non-squad all-around.[13]
In March 2019, Gadirova competed at the English Championships, where she placed fourth behindOndine Achampong,Halle Hilton, andJennifer Gadirova.[14] 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.[15] Gadirova next competed at the Flanders International Team Challenge, where she finished third in the all-around behind RomaniansIoana Stănciulescu andSilviana Sfiringu and helped Great Britain finish fourth as a team.[16]
In June, Gadirova competed at theinaugural Junior World Championships inGyőr, Hungary, alongside her twin sister Jennifer andAlia Leat. In the team final, they finished in sixth place and individually Gadirova finished 33rd in the all-around.[17]
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In July, Gadirova competed at the Sainté Gym Cup, where she helped Great Britain win team gold.[18] 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.[19]
Gadirova turned senior in 2020, but did not compete due to the worldwideCOVID-19 pandemic. In April 2021, she was selected to represent Great Britain at theEuropean Championships alongside her twin sister Jennifer (later replaced byPhoebe Jakubczyk),[20]Alice Kinsella, andAmelie Morgan.[21] 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.[22] In the all-around final Gadirova won the bronze medal behind RussiansViktoria Listunova andAngelina Melnikova.[23][24] She is the second British female artistic gymnast afterEllie Downie towin an all-around medal at the European Championships. During the vault final, Gadirova finished second behindOlympic andWorld vault medalistGiulia Steingruber.[25] On the final day of the competition, Gadirova won gold on floor exercise ahead of Melnikova andformer world all-around championVanessa Ferrari, making her the first British floor exercise champion sinceBeth Tweddle won in2010.[26]
On 7 June, Gadirova was selected to representGreat Britain at the 2020 Summer Olympics alongside her twin sister Jennifer, Alice Kinsella, and Amelie Morgan.[27] At theOlympic Games, Gadirova qualified to the all-around and floor exercise finals; additionally, Great Britain qualified for the team final. During theteam 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 in93 years.[28] 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, surpassingBecky Downie's 12th-place finish in2008.[29] During the floor exercise event final Gadirova performed a clean routine and earned a score of 14.000, finishing in sixth place.[30]
In December 2021, Gadirova became a brand ambassador for gymnastics leotard manufacturer Milano Pro-Sport.[31]
In March, Gadirova competed at the English Championships, where she won the all-around and also took gold on vault and floor.[32]
Later that month, Gadirova competed at the British Championships inLiverpool, where she took gold in the all-around with a score of 54.650, ahead of her Aylesbury teammatesOndine Achampong and her sister Jennifer.[33] She then went on to win gold on vault and floor as well as silver on beam.[34] In July, Gadirova was selected to compete at theEuropean Championships alongside her sisterJennifer, Achampong,Georgia-Mae Fenton, andAlice Kinsella.[35] In August, Gadriova competed at theEuropean Championships. She contributed scores on vault and floor exercise towards Great Britain's second-place finish.[36] During event finals, Gadirova won gold on floor exercise for the second consecutive year. Gadirova was also named Gymnast of the Year 2021 byEuropean Gymnastics, alongsideBoryana Kaleyn andFerhat Arıcan.[37]
In September, Gadirova was named to the team to compete at the2022 World Championships, once again alongside her twin sister Jennifer, Achampong, Kinsella, and Fenton.[38] 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.[39] During the all-around final Gadirova placed third behindRebeca Andrade andShilese Jones, earning Great Britain's firstWorld all-around medal.[40] 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 afterBeth Tweddle did so in2009. Gadirova was the second British gymnast to win a gold medal at these World Championships afterGiarnni 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.[41] Due to her performances at the World Championships, Gadirova was namedSunday Times Young Sportswoman of the Year[42] and additionally won theSports Journalists' Association Peter Wilson Trophy for international newcomer, alongside fellow British gymnastJake Jarman.[43] In December, she won theBBC Young Sports Personality of the Year award.[44]
Gadirova competed at the English Championships, where she placed fourth on uneven bars. She was named to the team to compete at the upcomingEuropean Championships, alongsideBecky Downie,Georgia-Mae Fenton,Ondine Achampong, andAlice Kinsella.[45]
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.[46] During the all-around final, Gadirova scored 55.032 to win gold ahead ofZsófia Kovács andAlice D'Amato.[47] 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.[48]
In September, Gadirova was selected to represent Great Britain at the2023 World Championships alongside Kinsella, Achampong, Fenton, andRuby Evans.[49] 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.[50] 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.[51] 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.[52] The following day, she withdrew from all other event finals. On 15 October, Gadirova posted on herInstagram account that her withdrawal from the individual all-around was because she had suffered a full tear of heranterior cruciate ligament in which she described as a "freak accident" whilst performing a gymnastics prep skill in training. The injury ended her 2023 season and kept Gadirova inactive through 2024, meaning she missed the2024 Summer Olympics.[53]
A month following the 2024 Olympic Games, Gadirova announced that she had been cleared by her surgeon to resume training.[54]
Gadirova returned to competition at the English Championships on 2 March 2025, 513 days after she last competed.[55] She only competed on the balance beam, on which she won the silver medal.[56] Later that month, she competed at theBritish Championships, only competing on the uneven bars and balance beam. She won silver on the former.[57][58] She made her return to international competition at theParis World Challenge Cup in September 2025 where she competed on uneven bars and balance beam.[59] She qualified to the uneven bars final where she ultimately placed fifth.[60] Gadirova was initially selected to represent Great Britain at the2025 World Championships; however an injury setback caused her to withdraw.[61]
| 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 |
| Year | Event | Team | AA | VT | UB | BB | FX |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | British Espoir Championships | 12 | 6 | ||||
| 2018 | English Championships | 23 | |||||
| British Championships | 7 | 8 | 6 | ||||
| British Team Championships |  | 11 | |||||
| 2019 | English Championships | 4 | |||||
| British Championships | 7 | 8 | 4 | | |||
| FIT Challenge | 4 | | |||||
| Junior World Championships | 6 | ||||||
| Sainté Gym Cup |  | 7 | |||||
| British Team Championships | | |
| Year | Event | Team | AA | VT | UB | BB | FX |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | |||||||
| European Championships | |  | | ||||
| Olympic Games | | 10 | 6 | ||||
| 2022 | English Championships | | | 4 | 4 | | |
| British Championships | | | | | |||
| European Championships | | 10 | 5 | | |||
| World Championships | | | WD | | |||
| 2023 | British Championships | 4 | | ||||
| European Championships | | | 7 | | |||
| World Championships | 6 | WD | WD | WD | WD | ||
| 2025 | English Championships | | |||||
| British Championships | | ||||||
| Paris World Challenge Cup | 5 |
| Year | Award | Result | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | European Gymnast of the Year | Won | [37] |
| 2022 | Sunday Times Young Sportswomen of the Year | Won | [42] |
| SJA Peter Wilson Trophy | Won | [43] | |
| BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year | Won | [44] | |
| BBC Sports Personality of the Year | Nominated | [62] |
