Olympian Jessica Gadirova’s excitement at returing to competition this weekend is tinged with sadness as she knows her twin sister is about to start the same gruelling rehabilitation she has just finished.
Jennifer will have surgery to repair anterior cruciate ligament damage on Wednesday, just days after Jessica makes her comeback from the same injury at the British Championships in Liverpool.
“To know that she is going through what I have for the last year and a half, takes a toll and hurts my heart,” Jessica told BBC Sport.
“I feel like I’m competing for her as well. I am giving her the opportunity to see that you can come back from any injury, no matter how long the process is.”
European all-around champion Jessica, who suffered her ACL injury in “a freak accident” at the 2023 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships, has endured “a very long process” to re-build her strength and fitness over time as “there is no quick fix”.
“I am a little bit nervous to compete because it has been a little while since I’ve been in an arena, but competing is what I love to do so it gives me excitement at the same time.
“We took it nice and slow to make sure it was done right. It was difficult in the moments when something that used to be so easy was becoming really hard. For example, just lifting my heel off the floor.
“That was such a great challenge. But as time went on, I fought through that feeling of giving up or not doing the small details in the rehab, and it got easier.”
Jessica will however only be competing on bars and beam with basic dismounts as she works towards returning to all four apparatus by the end of the year.
She now hopes to be able to repay her sister for the support and help she received when the roles are reversed following Jennifer’s surgery.
“I think destiny was like ‘no you are staying as twins no matter what’,” Jessica joked about the mirroring of their injuries.
“I felt like I was going in to it a little bit blind and so did my team, but Jen totally knows what the journey looks like now and can see that you can come back and be stronger.”
Jennifer said: “Not many people can say they have had this injury, so it’s a unique story that we have both done it.
“We both want to be there in LA for the 2028 Olympics and be as fit and strong as we physically can be.
“We want to do as many competitions as we can in this cycle to build our skills and to get us back out there as twins on the big stage.”
