Tweddle strikes gold twice in the World Student Games

Jul 15 2009 by David Prentice, Liverpool Daily Post

LIVERPOOL’S World and European champion, Beth Tweddle, has come home with two gold medals from the World Student Games in Belgrade.

The 24-year-old City of Liverpool star struck gold in the Uneven Bars and Floor events in the Gymnastics event of the Championships.

More than 10,000 student athletes from 142 countries worldwide took part in the 25th Games in Serbia – and Beth was Team GB’s first gold medallist. She scored 15.750 on the uneven bars, ahead of Korea’s Yong Hwa Ha who scored 15.575 and China’s Yuyuan Jiang who collected 15.200.

Tweddle was pushed all the way in the Floor competition by the Chinese pairing of Yuyuan Jiang and Ning He, but came through to clinch her and Great Britain’s second gold of the Games.

Tweddle graduated from John Moores University with a sports science degree in 2007 and earlier this year completed a foundation to health studies course at the University of Liverpool.

She plans to pursue a career in physiotherapy after the 2012 Olympics in London.

“I have been lucky that both universities have been very supportive of all my training,” she said.

“They know that I want to succeed both academically and in my sport and I cannot wait to show them my medals.

“The feeling of winning medals for your country is amazing and something I am very proud of.

“Being at university has enabled me to train in some of the best facilities in the country, and competing at the World University Games is an invaluable experience for London 2012.”

Tweddle has bounced back in style from the disappointment of just missing out on an Olympic medal in Beijing last year.

In April she won both the floor and bars competitions at the European Championships in Milan.

A month later she repeated the trick with two golds in the same events at the Glasgow Grand Prix and also led her club to the British Team Championships title.

Her next major goal is the World Championships in London in October.