Team GB had not won a women’s gymnastics medal in 84 years. Enter Beth Tweddle, Britain’s best female gymnast of all time, to turn the tide of history.
Fact File
Born: Johannesburg, South Africa - moved to Bunbury, Cheshire aged 18 months
Age: 37
Olympics: Athens 2004, Beijing 2008, London 212
Olympic Medals: Bronze London 2012
Career Summary
Beth Tweddle’s collection of medals speaks for itself but doesn’t tell the full story of her seminal impact on British Olympic sport.
After world bronze medals in 2003 and 2005, injury kept her out of the 2006 Commonwealth Games. Later that year, she became Britain’s first-ever world champion in gymnastics.
She would go on to win global golds on floor in 2009 and again on bars in 2010.
Tweddle thought she would retire after her second Olympics in Beijing but pushed through keyhole surgery to London and took a historic bronze medal on uneven bars.
She is also a four-time European Champion on the uneven bars and a two-time European Champion on the floor exercise, the first British athlete to reach all such milestones.
The inspiration
Beth created the eponymous ‘Tweddle’ skill on uneven bars and linked it to existing skills to lay the foundation for higher difficulty routines taken on by a new generation.
British gymnast Ruby Harrold, the first British woman to finish in the top 10 of the all-around at the European Championships says: “Beth’s connections [on bars] were amazing,"
“Because she tried different connections that were unique it gives me the confidence to try different ones, to try my own."
2012 Olympian Rebecca Tunney said: "Beth has been great, I've always watched her in the gym, how she trains and how she tackles and copes with bad days and good days.
“He's always been an inspiration to look up to. She finally got what she deserved in London.”
The legacy
After the drought came the flood - thanks to Tweddle unblocking the dam of Team GB success in women’s artistic gymnastics.
Amy Tinkler took floor bronze at Rio 2016 and then the women’s team of Jessica Gadirova, Jennifer Gadirova, Alice Kinsella and Amelie Morgan won a landmark bronze in Tokyo.
Both Becky and Ellie Downie took on Tweddle’s legacy, particularly on her trademark bars, with Ellie winning European bronze and Becky world silver on that apparatus.
The latest chapter saw the next generation of female stars anchor Britain’s best-ever World Championship performance in Liverpool last year.
The team won silver, Jessica Gadirova won all-around bronze before taking a stunning floor gold in front of a home crowd, Britain’s second world champion on that apparatus.
Tweddle’s legacy also lies in her longevity. She was one of very few to reach the age of 28 before retiring in a sport where many top stars barely saw out their teens.
Scores of gymnasts are now continuing in the sport well into their 20s - and Tweddle was one of the pioneers who proved it was possible.
Sportsbeat 2023