Jessica and Jennifer Gadirova made a number of incredible achievements at the Tokyo Olympics – they both made the team, the were part of the historic team bronze, and together they made the all-around and the floor finals. Gadirova sisters were born in Dublin and hold dual Irish-Biriths citizenship but their parents hail from Azerbaijan and Azerbaijanis are also proud of their success. The twins’ dad Natig Gadirov talked to Azerisport about their performance at the Olympics.
Q: Have you already talked to your daughters? If yes, what did they think about this big success at the Olympics and what can you say about it?
A: Of course, I talked to them, they’re in a great mood. I don’t even know how to express these feelings. It’s the biggest achievement in the world of sport. Even though it’s not a gold medal, gymnasts are so close in their performances, that the top ten can be awarded with medals. Besides the Olympic medals, they captured the hearts of many people. I’m very inspired by the interest from my countrypeople. It brings me endless joy.
Q: Have you expected such performances from your daughters?
A: Our expectations from these Olympics were more about getting a lot of experience. They had experience of competing internationally but Olympics are a whole other world. Anything besides experience would be a bonus. I don’t put pressure on them regarding results.
Q: Have you thought they could place third in the team competition?
A: Honestly, we didn’t have such expectations. We had expectations in event finals – on vault and floor. Bronze was a surprise. I was actually one of the first to realize that they won bronze. When Italian gymnasts competed on beam, I made all the possible result calculations but couldn’t believe that they would get 13.5 on beam. It’s hard to get such a score on beam. When the scores were announced, I ran out into the garden to jump and celebrate.
Q: Can you talk about how they were growing up, when they decided to do sports and why artistic gymnastics was chosen?
A: Our family is athletic. We didn’t do elite sports but sports were always in our family, already in Baku. Girls tried different sports, starting with swimming. When they were 4 or 5, we started thinking about which sport to choose considering their physical abilities. But at first, all sports were more of of a hobby. When they started getting good results in gymnastics, we started paying serious attention to this sport.
Q: Many people learned about them in Azerbaijan but they don’t know anything about your family. If it’s not a secret, what do you do for work?
A: I have a small logistics business, cargo shipping. We have a small company, we work and help each other. Nothing to complain about. My parents live in Baku. My mom is retired, she’s a pediatrician. My father is a professor of Math and Physics.
Q: When was the last time you visited Azerbaijan?
A: I haven’t been able to bring my daughters to their country of origin. I planned to do it before the pandemic but it didn’t work out. I visit regularly. But they know about Azerbaijan, they’re interested in it. They know about the country firsthand.
Q: There are photos on social media where they are posing with the flag of Azerbaijan.
A: I actually just wanted to tell you about it. I didn’t event ask them to take a photo with the flag. I wanted to tell them and then they sent me the photo, as if they anticipated my wish. We wanted to visit [Azerbaijan] after the Olympics but their two-week break after the Games is all busy already.
Q: Did they have the option to compete for Azerbaijan?
A: They don’t have Azerbaijani citizenship. At the moment, they don’t have such plans. But who knows what future has in store for us. I won’t say it will never happen. But it would be very nice to see them compete for their historic homeland. At the moment, they compete for Great Britain. They need to pay their debt to their country where they grew up and learned everything. My girls grew up in the British school. Azerbaijan is a young country, it’s only starting its path and everything will be well. I believe in our people, after all, they’re the most beautiful people for me.
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