Watch Jessica Gadirova complete a medal hat-trick as she claims her third medal in three days at the European Artistic Gymnastic Championships by winning gold in the floor final in Basel, Switzerland.
A fairytale weekend for 16-year-old Jessica Gadirova reached the perfect conclusion when she won the European floor title in Basel, scoring 13.966 in a routine that combined spectacular tumbling with expressive dance.
Coming after her bronze in Friday’s all-around, and Saturday’s silver in the vault, this completed a triumphant – and unprecedented – senior debut for Gadirova.
To win three medals at a European Championships is extremely unusual in itself. The only point of comparison for a British woman would be Ellie Downie, who claimed four in Cluj-Napoca in 2017. But then Downie – who was 17 at the time – had already been competing as a senior for two years.
Gadirova – who had been drawn to perform last – knew what she needed to do, and she delivered her big combinations superbly. Her double layout finished in the most perfect “stuck” landing imaginable.
Gadirova does not feel like a discovery, exactly. She and her twin sister Jennifer have been seen as stars in the making for some time. But Jessica has made her name in remarkable fashion this weekend. Her heroics filled the gap left by the Downie sisters, who opted not to make the trip to Basel.
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