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Beth Tweddle is thrilled to be following the Spice Girls

Matt Majendie
13 Oct 2009


The last time Beth Tweddle was at the O2, she was watching the Spice Girls shortly before the end of their shortlived reunion.

Tomorrow, Britain's most celebrated gymnast will be hoping for her own dose of girl power as she begins her quest for two World Championship medals in London, a feat she has been dreaming about since her visit to the venue last year.

She said: "The Spice Girls were a lot better than I thought they'd be but, the whole time, I kept on thinking how odd it was that I'd be competing at the same place as them. I was like 'this is going to be me' although I could never imagine the O2 as a gymnastics arena. But it's been transformed into an amazing venue."

Tweddle's parents will be in the stands as their daughter, the 2006 world champion on the asymmetric bars, bids to emulate that feat in London in the same event as well as on the floor.

Tomorrow, she will bid to qualify for the two weekend finals but admitted it was like stepping into the unknown. She said: "I've not really seen any other of the girls' routines like before Beijing when I watched them on YouTube as there haven't really been that many competitions.

"What I know is that if I perform both routines as I'd like then I should be up there in the medals."

Tweddle is well aware what it feels like to miss out at a major event, after finishing fourth, just 0.025 points from a bronze on the bars in Beijing. She immediately headed off on holiday and still finds it too painful to watch it back.

"I can't bring myself to see it," said the 24-year-old. "It just wasn't meant to be and I have to move on."

She has certainly done that. The injury problems that she endured prior to the Olympics have cleared up and she is in good form having won double gold in her two disciplines at the European Championships in May.

Due to her age and previous injuries, Tweddle had initially targeted the World Championships in London as her swansong from the sport but the prospect of the European Championships in the capital next year and the Olympics on home soil in 2012 means she has had a rethink.

"There's just too many good events going on in London," she said. "It just feels like it's meant to be."

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