Tweddle all set to stake claim among elites

Elizabeth Tweddle might never have become Britain’s most successful women’s gymnast had it not been for her hyperactive childhood....

Elizabeth Tweddle might never have become Britain’s most successful women’s gymnast had it not been for her hyperactive childhood.

Looking to find an outlet for their daughter’s boundless energy, Tweddle’s parents enrolled her at their local gym in Cheshire, northwest England, in 1992.

The move has already paid huge dividends and later this week Tweddle will be hoping to write the next chapter in her remarkable gymnastics career.

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“I was seven when I started training,” Tweddle said in an interview ahead of the August 16-24 world championships in Anaheim, California.

“I had too much energy around the house and I was always jumping up on beds and climbing up walls, so my parents wanted to channel my energy in someway.

“My mum took me to the local Sports centre where some of my friends did gym and I tried it out.”

However, Tweddle’s gymnastics career was almost over before it began when she broke an ankle in a warm-up routine five years ago.

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The injury, on which she has had two operations, still causes pain and restricts her movement but Tweddle wears the scars well. She became the first British woman to win a medal — bronze in the asymmetric bars — at the European championships last year.

Confirming her mastery on the apparatus, Tweddle followed a gold medal-winning performance at the 2002 Commonwealth Games by finishing fourth at the world championships in Debrecen last November, achieving the best ever placing by a British gymnast.

Having missed out on a podium finish at the worlds by just 0.063 of a point nine months ago, the athletic Tweddle is determined to get a coveted medal around her neck in Anaheim.

“It is great to finally get results. It shows that all the hard work in the gym is really worth it,” said the 18-year-old, who aggravated her long-term ankle problem during the British gymnastics championships last month but still claimed the all-round title for the third year in succession.

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While the injury initially raised fears about her participation in Anaheim — the event will also determine Olympic qualification — Tweddle’s confidence has never been higher.

She beat Russia’s Svetlana Khorkina, who has won 12 gold medals on the apparatus in major competitions since 1994, in an exhibition event in Liverpool in June and will be bidding to repeat the feat at the worlds. (Reuters)