Gadirova dazzles to defend European floor title

JESSICA GADIROVA delivered a dazzling routine to defend her European floor title and then roared — bring on the worlds in Liverpool. The Coventry gymnast, 17, racked up a stunning score of 14.00 to beat Martina Maggio and Angela Andreoli and emulate her memorable exploits in Basel last year at the multi-sport event. Ad Gadirova competed after her Italian opponents to pull off a daring, bold routine on the final time she will ever perform it on the major international stage.

GymnasticsCrowd made European Championship haul feel bigger than Olympics, says gymnast KinsellaYESTERDAY AT 15:01 The Tokyo Olympic star now wants to shake things up and is relishing the prospect of doing so in front of a raucous Merseyside crowd at October's World Championships. Gadirova, twin sister of teammate Jennifer, said: «This is the last time I'll compete that floor routine, so it's incredible to win the title with it. »It will always have a special place in my heart.

«I'll be working on a new routine after this looking ahead to the World Championships in Liverpool, where the crowd will be amazing I'm sure. »I'm in a bit of a daze — I'm shocked to have retained my title to be honest and it hasn't really sunk in." British gymnasts enjoyed a memorable few days in Munich as they claimed a haul of four medals at the city's 1972 Olympic Hall. Alice Kinsella got the ball rolling with all-around silver on Thursday before joining forces with the Gadirova twins, Ondine Achampong and Georgia-Mae Fenton to seal team silver on Saturday.