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Football4Profit: News- Olympics: Beth Tweddle at Beijing

The Olympics seem to be acting as a huge motivating factor for Beth Tweddle and her fitness. Recent comments by the Liverpudlian seem to play down concerns over the status of her health, as she stands at the brink of possibility to make more history for Britain and the game of gymnastics. Last month, the 23-year old suffered an ankle injury, preventing her from defending her title at the National Championships, as an all-around best. Tweddle has become the first gymnast out of Britain to win a world title, since her gold medal win in Denmark in 2006 on the asymmetric bars. She has been looked to as the key piece of a six-person team being sent from to the Beijing games. Tweddle also missed the Commonwealth games due to injury two years ago, and has been quick to dispel comparisons to that unfortunate situation, and has done her best to alleviate fears. She has said in response to the questions, “The ankle's getting there. Obviously the doctors and physios are keeping a close eye on me and my personal coach is just making sure everything is staying in place. I haven't changed my training preparation since I've come here, I've just kept with what I was doing at home. I'm happy with how it's progressing and hopefully I'll be fully fit.” She has quite a bit of reason to get healthy quickly, as her current career plans have her retiring before the London Games will come around din 2012. Beijing may well be her last opportunity, as she has said, “ I think I will be my last Olympics. Obviously I'd love to go to a home games. I did the Commonwealths [in Manchester] and it was a mega experience but I think my body's going to be too old and I'll have to leave it to the younger members of the team.” The 23-year old has reported nothing but optimism, with great reason since her fall at Athens four years ago, and was unable to compete in the final of the asymmetrical bars. Beijing, then, holds great hope for her- especially after having success on the National, European and World levels since then.

“Any medal of any colour would be the icing on the cake," she has said. Continuing, “I've had so much throughout my career that I never even dreamt that I'd be able to take. That is my ultimate goal but it's not something that if I don't achieve, I'll look back on and regret. No team decisions have been made as to what pieces people are competing on yet but my main focus is obviously bars and floor. I'd like to compete in the all-around but we'll just have to see how the body's holding up and what the team's needs are.” In any case, it seems that Britain is going to China with high hopes and a strong team. They have a great asset with Becky Downie, who’s young at 16 years old, but a bronze winner at Melbourne two years ago; and Rebecca Wing, coming from the World Championships, also 16 years of age. The team may or may not be strong enough to take a medal: “We're probably an outside bet for a medal. I'm sure there's a few above us but anything's possible, all the teams are so close now so it's about what you can do on the day," Tweddle commented. “For one of the first time we had quite a few of us trialling for the Olympics which was hard because we had to leave so many of us at home. But it just shows the depth and strength that we have got in our team.”

Finally, Tweddle closed the conversation with insight as to how her success has changed the game over the last six years, when she became the first Bristish woman to win a European championship. “A lot has changed. Obviously the belief within myself but also for the rest of the girls they realise that they can go out there and challenge for a medal. They've got the thinking they can also do it. It's not a case of just turning up to a World Championship to compete, it's a case of turning up to challenge for medals and the training prior to it. It's not just about getting through your routines, it's getting through your routines with perfection. Also the lottery funding that goes into it. A few years ago, a lot of coaches would have been doing full-time jobs and trying to coach their elite gymnasts whereas now a lot of them are just elite coaches for getting us to competitions like this.”
 

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