Beth Tweddle
Elizabeth Kimberly Tweddle is a retired English artistic gymnast. Renowned for her uneven bar and floor routines, she was the first female gymnast from Great Britain to win a medal at the European Championships, World Championships, and Olympic Games. Tweddle, known for her consistency and longevity as an elite gymnast, is regarded as a pioneer of the renaissance of British gymnastics at the beginning of the twenty-first century that saw the country's gymnastics programme progress from 'also ran' to consistent global competitiveness, and along with peers such as Vanessa Ferrari of Italy and Isabelle Severino of France, helped begin a period of significant success for western European gymnasts globally.
Tweddle represented Great Britain at three Olympic Games. She is the 2012 Olympic bronze medalist on uneven bars, the 2006 and 2010 World Champion on the uneven bars, the 2009 World Champion on floor exercise, a four-time European Champion on the uneven bars, and a two-time European Champion on the floor exercise. She is a Commonwealth Games gold medalist, and a three-time champion in the Universiade.
Tweddle retired in August 2013. Following retirement, Tweddle took on a variety of media and sporting work. On 10 March 2013, she won the eighth series of Dancing on Ice along with Daniel Whiston, who won the show for the third time. In 2014, she took part in the ninth and last series of Dancing on Ice, the "All-Stars" series, with her new skating partner Łukasz Różycki, making the final and coming third.
In 2016, Tweddle participated in the third series of Channel 4 reality contest show The Jump. However, on 7 February, two weeks into the show, Tweddle suffered a back injury and withdrew. It was reported on 8 February 2016 that she had undergone successful surgery to fuse two vertebrae. As of 2023, she remains a regular analyst on her sport for the BBC and Eurosport.
In 2025, she was inducted into the International Gymnastics Hall of Fame.
Early life and education
Tweddle was born on 1 April 1985 in Johannesburg, South Africa and moved with her family to Bunbury, Cheshire, England when she was 18 months old. After trying several different sports, Tweddle began competing in gymnastics at the age of seven at Crewe and Nantwich Gymnastics Club. In 1997, she moved to the City of Liverpool Gymnastics Club to train with coach Amanda Reddin.Tweddle attended The Queen's School, Chester and completed a foundation degree with the University of Liverpool. In 2007, she graduated from Liverpool John Moores University with a degree in sports science. She was accepted to the University of Liverpool's physiotherapy programme and began to attend after the 2012 Summer Olympics. Tweddle is also involved with Total Gymnastics. She said, "I have a sports science degree, and I'll be continuing my studies in the future – I have place at the University of Liverpool to study Physiotherapy in 2012. I've also started Total Gymnastics with the help of former Olympic swimmer Steve Parry. We go into schools and leisure centres to help give children a chance to try gymnastics – which I'm enjoying because so many gymnastics clubs are overbooked.". Tweddle is a keen football fan and is a supporter of Chester F.C. She is also a patron of Alder Hey Children's Hospital charity.
Senior career
2001
At the end of October, Tweddle competed at the World Championships in Ghent, Belgium. She helped the British team place ninth and individually she placed twenty-fourth in the all around final with a score of 34.892.2002
In April, Tweddle competed at the European Championships in Patras, Greece. She helped the British team place sixth and individually she placed fourteenth in the all around final with a score of 34.242. In event finals, she placed third on uneven bars with a score of 9.287. This was the first medal ever won by a female British gymnast at the European Championships. Tweddle said, "When I saw my name on the scoreboard in third place I just started to cry and couldn't stop. I'm just so happy."In July, Tweddle competed for England at the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester, United Kingdom. She placed second in the all around final with a score of 36.387. In event finals, she placed seventh on vault scoring 8.887 and first on uneven bars scoring 9.550.
In November, Tweddle competed at the World Championships in Debrecen, Hungary. She placed fourth on uneven bars scoring 9.312.
2003
In August, Tweddle competed at the World Championships in Anaheim, United States. She placed third in the uneven bars final with a score of 9.512.In October, Tweddle competed at the World Cup event in Glasgow, United Kingdom. She placed first on uneven bars scoring 9.450 and third on balance beam scoring 8.800.
In November, Tweddle competed at the World Cup event in Stuttgart, Germany. She placed second on uneven bars with a score of 9.475.
2004
In March, Tweddle competed at the World Cup event in Cottbus, Germany. She placed first on uneven bars scoring 9.587.Later in March, Tweddle competed at the World Cup event in Lyon, France. She placed first on uneven bars with a score of 9.500.
In April, Tweddle competed at the European Championships in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. She placed eleventh in the all around final with a score of 35.124 and second in the uneven bars final with a score of 9.587.
Athens Olympics
In August, Tweddle competed at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece. She contributed an all around score of 36.912 toward the British team's eleventh-place finish. In the all around final, Tweddle placed nineteenth with a score of 35.761.2005
In February, Tweddle competed at the World Cup event in New York City, United States. She placed fourth on uneven bars scoring 9.487 and third on floor scoring 9.412.In May, Tweddle competed at the World Cup event in Paris, France. She placed second on uneven bars scoring 9.450 and seventh on floor scoring 8.225.
In October, Tweddle competed at the World Cup event in Glasgow, United Kingdom. She placed first on uneven bars scoring 9.687, third on balance beam scoring 9.012, and first on floor scoring 9.475.
In November, Tweddle competed at the World Championships in Melbourne, Australia. She placed fourth in the all around final with a score of 36.936 and third in the uneven bars final with a score of 9.575.
2006
In March, Tweddle injured her right ankle and was unable to compete in the 2006 Commonwealth Games. She said, "It's a big disappointment as I was looking forward to the Games but as team captain I'll stay in Melbourne and cheer the team on. It will be difficult watching but I'll have to put the injury behind me now. We were doing podium training when I landed badly after a vault. I knew straight away that something was wrong. The injury is not too severe it is a bruised bone and the doctors have said I will be back in time for the Europeans in April. In the back of my mind I was still hoping to do bars but the doctors advised me to leave it if I wanted to be fit for the Europeans. The Beijing Olympics are still in the back of my mind but I've still not decided whether I will carry on yet."In April, Tweddle competed at the European Championships in Volos, Greece. She won the uneven bars final with a score of 16.050. Her victory was the first at a European Championships for a British gymnast.
In July, Tweddle competed at the British Championships in Guildford, United Kingdom. She won the all around competition with a score of 60.750. In event finals, she placed first on uneven bars scoring 15.850, first on balance beam scoring 14.850, and first on floor scoring 15.350.
In October, Tweddle competed at the World Championships in Aarhus, Denmark. She placed eighth in the all around final with a score of 59.450. In event finals, she placed first on uneven bars scoring 16.200 and fourth on floor scoring 15.425. Her gold medal was the first Britain ever earned at a World Championships. Tweddle said, "I knew that I could do the routine, it was just whether I could pull it out for that moment. I went into the gym on Friday morning and did exactly the same routine as I would do that night. I went through first time and that brought my confidence back up again, and my coach knew that from then on she just had to keep me calm and let me get on with it. All my hard work has finally paid off and I'm absolutely ecstatic. A lot of people told me it would come, but I didn't think it ever actually would. It hasn't sunk in yet. I've had the bronze medal at the last two world championships and to come out today after the fall yesterday and get through it is an achievement. I didn't know if I'd win because I hadn't seen Liukin's routine, but I've seen her in training and she was pretty spectacular."
In November, Tweddle competed at the World Cup event in Glasgow, United Kingdom. She placed first on uneven bars scoring 16.025 and seventh on floor scoring 14.550.
In December, Tweddle competed at the World Cup final in São Paulo, Brazil. She placed first on uneven bars scoring 16.300 and second on floor scoring 15.200.
At the end of the year, Tweddle was nominated for, and finished in third place, for the 2006 BBC Sports Personality of the Year, the only British gymnast ever to make the short list for the award.
2007
In January, Tweddle had surgery on her shoulder.In April, she competed at the European Championships in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. She placed second in the floor final with score of 15.250. Tweddle said, "It was quite hard, but it was a case of not competing at Europeans, or do a couple of events and getting back on the international stage again. Obviously, later in the year is more important than this. It wasn't worth pushing the injury, which could make it worse for later in the year."
In July, Tweddle competed at the British Championships in Guildford, United Kingdom. She won the all around competition for the seventh straight time with a score of 59.750. In event finals, she placed first on uneven bars scoring 16.350. Tweddle said, "It's a bit spooky to win my seventh title on the seventh of the seventh 2007. I was really happy with how things went today. I made the decision to alter my second floor tumble just to help my foot and make sure I didn't injure it before the Worlds, but everything else was fine."
In September, Tweddle competed at the World Championships in Stuttgart, Germany. She contributed an uneven bars score of 14.175 toward the British team's seventh-place finish, meaning that they qualified a full team to the Olympics. In event finals, she placed fourth on uneven bars scoring 16.125 and seventh on floor scoring 14.900.
In November, Tweddle competed at the World Cup event in Glasgow, United Kingdom. She placed seventh on uneven bars scoring 14.025 and first on floor scoring 14.550. Tweddle said, "I went for broke with my bars routine as I wasn't happy with my qualifying routine. I know that I would have to be perfect if I want to get gold at the Olympics next year."