Last week, here at The Zone, we were gutted to see Beth Tweddle retire from her reign as the queen of British gymnastics. Indeed the most decorated woman in British gymnastics history called it quits after over a decade of competing at the very top level and winning countless awards. Giving the announcement on the anniversary of her greatest achievement of all, Beth will be continuing her involvement in the sport, turning her attention to inspiring the next generation of budding British gymnasts. In honour of Beth’s triumphs, we would like to look back over some of the highlights of her glittering career…
Beth’s sporting résumé boasts almost 40 professional medals, 20 of which happen to be gold! This is a feat which has seen her become a triple World Champion, a 6 time European Champion, a Commonwealth victor and a 7 time consecutive National Champion. Her legacy was cemented just over a year ago when she clinched the final podium finish missing from her collection, a bronze medal in the uneven bars at the London Olympic Games. This success was to be Beth’s last performance in professional gymnastics, retiring without competing again – her greatest and final hurrah!
Without doubt Beth’s flagship event has been the uneven bars. Many of her most memorable performances were executed on this individual apparatus and her medal haul and international esteem have swelled in the wake of countless memorable performances at the top level. This includes the London Olympic Games, where she landed a score of 15.916 to take the bronze (below).
In 2006 Beth beat all expectations, delivering spectacularly at the World Championships in Denmark with a score of 16.200 on uneven bars. In doing so she became Britain’s first ever gold medallist in the history of the competition. This topped off a golden year in which she also won events at the European Championships, the National Championships and the World Cup in São Paulo. The nation recognised Beth’s dominance and voted her in third place at the Sports Personality of Year awards, the first time a gymnast had even made the shortlist, let alone placing on the podium!
In 2010 we were delighted to see Beth included in the New Year’s honours list. Coming in the wake of her third golden performance at the World Championships Beth was now winning awards outside of gymnastics. Presented by the Prince of Wales; the MBE made Beth our unofficial Queen of British gymnastics! Speaking about the ceremony afterwards Beth said:
"I was surprisingly quite nervous before the ceremony; I was worried about tripping up when I walked in. Everyone kept saying to me 'you are not going to cartwheel in’, I train to win gymnastic medals but away from gymnastics the MBE is a massive honour."
Although we at The Zone are sad to see Beth go, it’s a relief to know she’ll be staying involved in the sport, helping to inspire the next generation of golden gymnasts, through her new London-based initiative: the Beth Tweddle Academy, which is set to open in mid-October.