Olympic tumbling twins surprise young Croydon gymnasts
Youngsters at a Croydon gymnastics club were left speechless after a surprise visit from Olympic twin sisters Jessica and Jennifer Gadirova yesterday.
The Gadirova twins, who have won 15 Olympic, World, and European medals between them by the age of 19, took some time out of their packed training schedules to choreograph a new artistic floor routine with children at Allstarz Gymnastics Club, in Airchildes Avenue, New Addington.
Claire Ongley, head coach at Allstarz Gymnastics Club, said: “It’s so important for the children of today to have role models who inspire them to chase their dreams, so Jessica and Jennifer’s visit means a lot to everyone here at Allstarz.
“For people who’ve achieved as much as them at such a young age to make the time to visit our club shows exactly the kind of people they are and the fantastic work British Gymnastics are doing to inspire a future generation.”
Jessica and Jennifer, who missed out on selection for this year’s Games due to injury, hoped their visit to Croydon’s gymnastics club would help inspire a future generation of athletes while the team in Paris continue to amaze audiences across the UK.
Speaking on the visit, Jessica said: “I absolutely loved meeting the children of Allstarz Gymnastics Club this morning – their passion and excitement made for an amazing session and I hope our story inspires them to chase their own dreams.
“Jennifer and I want to do everything we can to help the team over in Paris, so we’ve loved rallying up support from home as we look forward to what could be a very exciting few days for Team GB.”
The visit, organised by British Gymnastics, comes as Team GB competes in the Artistic Gymnastics programme at Paris 2024, with a number of medals still on offer for some of Britain’s biggest stars over the coming week.
Jennifer said: “The girls this morning reminded me of Jess and I back in the day, so it was a really heart-warming experience.”
“It was so nice to meet so many new faces who clearly love gymnastics. I hope that we’ve reminded them of where gymnastics can take you if you work hard and believe in yourself.”
In Tokyo 2020, the Dublin-born twins formed part of the squad that secured a bronze medal in the team event – Great Britain’s first Olympic podium appearance in the competition since Amsterdam 1928.
The pair were tipped to win medals at the 2024 Games, but untimely injuries forced them out of what would have been their second Olympics.
Jessica suffered a complete tear of her ACL during the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Antwerp last year whilst Jennifer underwent surgery for an ankle injury.
Pictured top: Allstarz Gymnastics Club gymnasts, staff and the Gadirova twins, centre (Picture: Croydon’s Allstarz Gymnastics Club)