A pair of 16-year-old twins had their “dream come true” after helping Great Britain’s women’s gymnastics team deliver an extraordinary bronze at the Tokyo Olympics.
The team of Alice Kinsella, Amelie Morgan, and twins Jennifer and Jessica Gadirova claimed the first women’s team gymnastics medal since 1928.
The quartet, referred to as the “awesome foursome” by Team GB on Twitter, totalled 164.096, with the Russian Olympic Committee taking gold and the U.S. team settling for silver for the first time since 2008.
Fighting back tears, 16-year-old Jessica Gadirova told the BBC: “It’s a dream we never thought could just come true.
“I never thought this was possible, but it is, it happened,” she said.
Jennifer and Jessica Gadirova, born in Dublin to Azerbaijani parents, train at the Aylesbury Gymnastics Academy and have both recently completed their GCSEs at a school in Buckinghamshire town.
Asked how she was feeling about their historic win, 18-year-old Morgan told BBC Sport: “It seems so unreal that we have made history and got a medal.
“I think we just can’t quite believe it.”
In a striking similarity to her teammates, Morgan is a twin.
Her brother Finlay Morgan is also a gymnast who has competed at a national level.
Essex-born Kinsella, 20, daughter of former football player Mark Kinsella, put a tough individual qualifying session on Sunday behind her following the win.
She told BBC Sport: “My qualification didn’t go so well, so I came in here today just to go and absolutely smash my routine, to go and enjoy it, come out with the girls.
“Coming away with bronze feels absolutely amazing.
“I’m speechless.”
By Emma Bowden
