London 2012 Olympics: Beth Tweddle impresses on uneven bars

Beth Tweddle produced a breathtaking uneven bars routine and took a huge step towards claiming what would her first Olympic medal as Great Britain’s women gymnasts powered into the team final.

The three-times world champion set the North Greenwich Arena alight with a world-class performance, brimming with style and complexity, to score a huge 16.133 – putting her in top qualifying place after the third of five sessions.

Britain also secured their place in 
tomorrow’s team final, replicating the efforts of the men’s team yesterday, with a score of 170.656. Tweddle’s routine had a 7.0 difficulty score and a huge 9.133 execution score – the largest of the day by some distance.

“I was unbelievably nervous,” Tweddle said after qualification. “I’ve felt 
sick for the last three weeks. My coach said to me: ‘Just do what you do in training.’ And I just thought to myself: ‘This is the one moment and I just have to live for it.’

“I spoke with Louis [Smith, who qualified for the pommel horse final] yesterday and asked him how he felt and he said: ‘It was great, but I was so nervous’ and I just thought I’m in the same 
position as him.”