Beth Tweddle wins Olympic bronze
Gymnast Beth Tweddle wins an Olympic bronze to overcome the heartache of missing out at Beijing four years ago.
Tweddle started fifth out of the eight competitors and produced a strong performance, though struggled on her landing and took a large step backwards. The judges awarded her a 15.916 – putting her in the silver medal position.
He Kexin, the 20-year-old Chinese gymnast, was in the gold medal position with a score of 15.933.
The gymnast to follow Tweddle, however, was Russian Aliya Mustafina who produced a gold medal winning performance with a score of 16.133 – pushing Tweddle into third.
Japan’s Koko Tsurumi was the penultimate athlete, and scored 14.966. The final gymnast was Gabrielle Douglas from the United States who scored 14.9.
What a Games the gymnasts have had. Well done @bethtweddlenews Olympic medallist.
— Matthew Pinsent (@matthewcpinsent) August 6, 2012
Completing the set
The 27-year-old has already won three world, six European and seven British titles, but had been yet to win an Olympic medal after more than a decade at the top of her sport.
Tweddle topped the leaderboard during qualifications on Sunday, just ahead of China’s He Kexin and Russia’s Viktoria Komova.
The Liverpudlian has had a long time to think about what an Olympic medal would mean to her after she finished in an agonising fourth place in the final four years ago in Beijing.
“It would be the best way to finish my career,” Tweddle said. “I just wanted to make that final. You’ve got to have luck on the day.
“If I go there and do the best routine that I can and it comes away with a medal, so be it. If it doesn’t I’ve got so much to look back on in my career.
“I would have walked away very disappointed if I hadn’t made a final. At least I’ve got that final to finish my career off.”
Uneven bars
Scores are given in the uneven bars based on the difficulty of theroutine attempted, and the quality of the execution. The key elements of the bars are the flight between the bars, turns on the bars, grips and the dismount.
The jury of nine judges deducts marks for penalties.
Tweddle had suffered a difficult lead-up to the London Games after having knee surgery three months ago.
If the 27-year-old is oldest competitor on the uneven bars to win an Olympic medal since Tokyo in 1964.