Two weeks ago, 17-year-old Jessica Gadirova became European champion in free exercises. A year ago, she, together with the twin sister, Jennifer won bronze in the team all-around at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo. For the UK national team, these were the first medals in this sport in 93 years. It is unique in this story that both athletes are of Azerbaijani origin. How did it happen that both began to protect the colors of the British team?
About the history of new sports stars writes the publication “Sport-Express”.
Parental move
Azerbaijan did not even have a theoretical opportunity. The reason is banal – they simply do not have citizenship of their historical homeland. This was told by the father of athletes Nick Gadirov.
“They do not have Azerbaijani citizenship. At the moment, there are no plans for Azerbaijan. But who knows that we are allocated in the future. I won’t bite. It is very nice to see their performance for the historical homeland, but at the moment they represent the UK” – quotes the publication of the word Gadirov.
Parents of athletes were born in Azerbaijan. But in 2001 they moved to Ireland, and then – the UK. Jessica and Jennifer in 2004 were born in Dublin. According to the father of athletes – performances for the British team sisters repay the country to the country in which they grew up.
Mother’s desire
The sisters began to play sports at the age of six – at the request of their mother. She felt that the girls were very active, and they had to spend their energy somewhere.
“When we were younger, we moved a lot. Our mother made us engage in different sports, but we just liked the gymnastics,” Gennifer quotes Fig.
According to the father of the sisters, it was in sports gymnastics that Jessica and Jennifer began to demonstrate substantial results – this was the reason for more serious training of this sport.
“Girls tried different classes, starting with swimming. At first it was an entertainment. Although, from four to five years, we have already begun to think about which sport to choose, relying on their physical data. When we began to show good results in gymnastics, then they began to seriously pay attention to this sport, ”said Gadirova.
The first successes
But athletes have become real stars recently. In 2021, in Basel, Russian Victoria Listunova was ahead of Angelina Melnikov and won absolute championship at the European Championship. Then, on the pedestal, after the final of the all -around, together with Russian stars, Jessica Gadirov stood. Her sister was also supposed to perform at the European championship, but was forced to miss the competition due to injury.