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The 2023 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships presented a spectacular battle of the most capable gymnasts from all over the world. The athletes battled fiercely, leaving their competitors done and dusted. As the championship unfolded in Belgium for the third time, expectations were high for historic achievements. Simone Biles made another historic feat of her career with the Yuchenko Double Pike, officially naming it Biles II. However, the competition intensified, particularly in the compelling rivalry between Shilese and her 18-year-old prodigy rival.

English gymnast, Jessica Gadirova, initially touted as Simone Biles’ significant rival, displayed remarkable proximity to Shilese Jones’ scores on Day 1 of the Women’s qualifying. A recent social media post revealing the closely contested scores is now causing a stir, capturing attention in the gymnastics community.

Jessica Gadirova and Shilese Jones on the verge of clashing

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On the opening day of the Women’s qualifying round, two notable gymnasts went neck-to-neck with their scores. Missing by a slight margin, Britain’s Gadirova missed the second spot at the all-around standing with a score of 56.766. Whereas, Jones stole the position with a grand 56.932 with Simone Biles topping the list. Therefore, marking the intense showdown, a Twitter post compared the scores for Shilese Jones fans. The tweet read, “Jessica Gadirova needs 14.766 to tie Shilese Jones”. The post was shared by Scott Bregman, the social media producer of Olympics.com.

Shilese Jones, who secured second place in the all-around and on bars at the previous year’s world championships continued to shine. Jones achieved the top score on bars (14.833), the second-best on beam (14.033), and the third-highest on floor (13.800), trailing only Biles and Jessica Gadirova, whose all-around score was only 0.166 less than Jones. Along similar lines, in the vault, Jones displayed a chest-down landing with a hop, seemingly taking a more cautious approach after an exuberant touch. The score for her second vault, a Yurchenko double full, reflected significant power.

During the floor exercise, Gadirova’s Moors element appeared quite decent in the air overall. However, the full-twisting double layout fell slightly short. Details of her last pass were elusive, but the overall performance, especially the landing on the second pass, was strong, earning her a score of 14.600 and placing her second, nestled between Biles and Jones.

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Why is a foreign rival gymnastics mock competition so hyped?

Gymnastics Now recently gave a shout-out to Jessica Gadirova, the vault medal dreamer. In the featured video, Gadirova effortlessly executed flips, landing with confidence. They captioned the post, “An even better Cheng for her mock competition vault from Jessica Gadirova!” The English gymnast, already a world floor champion, seems determined to continue her winning streak.

Read more: “Collapsed Onto My Bedroom Floor”- Simone Biles Detailed on Her First World Championships Title Victory

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Meanwhile, Simone, the reigning all-around champion, introduced the Cheng as her second vault at the Xfinity Champs, aiming for her second consecutive victory. With a difficulty score exceeding 6, the Cheng puts female gymnasts on edge. However, years ago, Simone achieved the remarkable by adding extra flips to the Cheng. For contenders eyeing a World Championship medal, this vault is the preferred choice.

Watch this story:  Inching Closer to Simone Biles and Shilese Jones, Gymnastics’ Rising Star Unveils Her Next Steps