Who is Jessica Gadirova? A look at English gymnast who won BBC Young Personality of the Year award
Jessica Gadirova has had an excellent year as a professional gymnast, claiming three medals during this year's World Artistic Gymnastics Championships and another two at the European Championships. Since 2021, she has developed her career with some outstanding performances in the gymnastics arena.
Earlier this month, Gadirova was named BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year 2022. Let's explore more about her early life and gymnastics career:
Jessica Gadirova's early life and her gymnastics career so far
Jessica Gadirova is of Azerbaijani descent. Her father, Natig Gadirov, and her mother are from Azerbaijan but emigrated to London in 2001. Jessica was born on October 3, 2004, in Dublin, Ireland, and has a twin sister named Jennifer Gadirova, also a professional gymnast.
According to GiveMeSport, both sisters have Azeri, Irish, and British citizenship. Gadirova began her gymnastics career at the age of six after her mother wanted her and Jennifer to have an outlet for their energy. In March 2016, Jessica competed in the British Espoir Championship, finishing in 12th place and sixth in the balance beam event.
At the junior level, she competed in the English Championships and British Team Championships in 2018. Jessica once again competed in the 2019 English Championships. Then, at the 2019 British Championships, she finished seventh, eighth, and fourth in the all-around, vault, and uneven bars events. However, she finished with a bronze medal in the floor exercise.
Jessica Gadirova competed in the 2019 Flanders International Team Challenge and finished third in the all-raound event, which also helped Team Great Britain secure a fourth-place finish in the junior team event. However, things didn't go well for her at the inaugural junior World Championships in Hungary. In the team finals, she secured a sixth-place finish in the team event and was 33rd in the all-around event.
In the 2019 Sainte Gym Cup, she finished seventh in the all-around event and also helped Team Great Britain win gold in the team event. Gadirova later clinched a first-place finish in the junior all-around event at the 2019 Women's British Teams Championships, while helping her team, Aylesbury, secure first place in the team event.
However, Gadirova's career came to a halt following the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, before once again competing in 2021. She began the year with three medals at the 2021 European Championships. Gadirova then took bronze in the all-around finals with a score of 55.100.
The British gymnast won a silver medal in the vault final followed by gold in the floor exercise event with an impressive score of 13.966. At the Tokyo Olympics, Gadirova, along with her teammates Jennifer Gadirova (Jessica's sister), Alice Kinsella, and Amelie Morgan guided Team Great Britain to a historic bronze medal finish in the team event.
Incidentally, this was Britain's first Olympic medal in the team event since the 1928 Summer Olympics. Gadirova finished tenth and sixth in the finals of the all-around and floor exercise event. Towards the end of 2021, gymnastics leotards and gymwear brand Milano Pro-Sport announced her as their brand ambassador.
Gadirova started 2022 with three gold medals at the 2022 English Championships in March, emerging victorious in the all-around, vault, and floor exercise events. At the 2022 British Championships held in Liverpool, Jessica took home gold medals in the all-around, vault, and floor exercise events. Additionally, she finished second after winning a silver medal in the balance beam event.
At the 2022 European Championships in Munich, the British gymnast clinched a gold medal in the floor exercise event with a score of 14.000 followed by a silver medal in the team event. Jessica Gadirova competed at the 2022 World Championships in Liverpool.
Competing in the finals of the floor exercise event, Gadirova scored 14.200 to take gold and also helped Team Britain to a silver medal finish in the team event. Team Britain's total score was 163.363, which saw them take silver.
In the individual all-around event, Jessica Gadirova scored a total of 55.199 to win a bronze medal. However, she withdrew from the finals of the vault event. After exceptional performances at the World Championships, the 18-year-old was named the Sunday Times Young Sportswoman of the Year.
Adding to her laurels, the gymnast was awarded the Sports Journalists Association's Peter Wilson Trophy for International Newcomer. Earlier this month, she was named the BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year.
With a long, bright future ahead, Jessica Gadirova still has a lot to offer in professional gymnastics, and may even become the most decorated gymnast ever if she dethrones Simone Biles.