In 2017, Rebeca Andrade came to the World Championships in Montreal as one of the favorites for the all-around gold. Her second (out of three) ACL injury led to her withdrawing from the competition. Five years later she has finally become the World all-around champion. Andrade was in a league of her own at this competition – a clean performance would’ve ensured her gold because she had a lead of over a point in difficulty over Shilese Jones and Jade Carey who finished second and third in the qualification respectively.
Andrade said about how the competition went today:
“Everything always happens when it needs to, and I am really happy to have done everything I could, and not lose the competition on my bar routine. I did my beam routine with all the connections and all the difficulty, and that was one of my best floor routines ever. I’m so proud of myself.”
She has been working with a psychologist and that helped her in her gymnastics career:
“I have a psychologist who’s helped me since I was 13 years old, and this has made a big difference for me as a gymnast and a person. I have a lot of moments, not just in my sporting life but in my personal life too – my injuries, the things I needed to do to be here now. There have been a lot of things that have helped me make adjustments when I need to.”
Shilese Jones and Jessica Gadirova, the winners of silver and bronze, are both at their first World Championships. Gadirova, though, has quite a lot more international experience under her belt. She was the all-around bronze medalist at the 2021 European Championships, competed in the all-around final at the Olympics, and helped the British team to win bronze in Tokyo, among other things.
Gadirova became the first British woman to win an all-around World medal. Winning it at home, in front of the crowd that erupted in a roar on her every landing, was an incredible experience. Gadirova said:
“The crowd really touched my heart. The crowd is making a big impact, because they’re cheering on so much. I want to perform for them because their support is so strong for us. Thank you, Liverpool for all the support it’s been incredible.”
Gadirova was excited to compete with her teammate Alice Kincella and cheered on her when she could:
“I was happy Alice and I didn’t go at the same time so I could cheer her on.”
Meanwhile, her twin sister Jennifer cheered on them from the stands:
“She was in the stands, so I could literally see her on the TV going ‘Yes’. As I was walking round the floor I could just see her.”
Gadirova hoped she could win a medal but didn’t fully expect it:
“I thought about putting my best performance out there, having a clean competition. At the end I started to think there was a possibility, but I didn’t want to get my hopes up. All I thought about was to get to my feet and whatever happens, happens. I thought I did the best performance I could and with that score my jaw dropped I was so shocked by it.”
Shilese Jones’s first big international competition was the Pan American Championships in 2018 when she won gold with the team. Her second is these World Championships. However, for a first-time Worlds competitor, she was extremely calm and collected throughout the competition:
“Honestly there wasn’t too many nerves. We’ve been doing this for a couple of days now with the team finals and everything, so it kind of boosted my confidence a little bit.”
Jones tried to make Worlds teams in the past and also tried for the Tokyo Olympics but never quite managed to get everything together. This silver, she feels, is a major step in her journey to the Paris Olympics:
“It means the world to me. I’ve been on this journey for a really long time now, and I’m super-proud of my gymnastics and my skills. I feel this is a great stepping stone; I’m feeling great heading in to 2024.”
