One of Beth Tweddle’s specialities is the uneven bars. As one of Britain’s elite gymnasts, there were great expectations for her at the world championships. Unfortunately, on the uneven bars, Beth Tweddle fell. She had a chance for redemption on the floor exercises and took full advantage of the opportunity to make a statement. She won:

“Britain’s Beth Tweddle raised the domed roof at the O2 Arena on Sunday after she tumbled to glory on the floor exercise, while Olympic champion Zou Kai and his team mates showed China had lost none of the sparkle that helped them dominate the 2008 Beijing Games.

However, it was Tweddle who handed promoters of the 2012 London Olympics with their dream marketing tool when she outshone her rivals to win her first world floor title with a rousing routine which earned her 14.650.”

link: Tweddle steals the show as China stifle opposition

additional link: Tweddle gives the home crowd what it wanted: a gold medal on floor exercise

additional link:  Beth Tweddle claims gymnastics world title

additional link:  Beth Tweddle wins World Championship gold on floor

Beth Tweddle responded to adversity in grand fashion. Kudos to her for thrilling her hometown fans.

Catherine Forsythe

[Photo by Clive Rose/Getty Images]

Kayla Williams had two categories at the world gymnastic championships, specializing in the vault and floor exercises. She won the gold in vault:

“… The 16-year-old American, who was still competing at the level below elite five months ago, looked like an old pro Saturday in winning the vault title at the world gymnastics championships. Only when she stood atop the podium did she seem overwhelmed, taking several deep breaths as she waited for the gold medal to be put around her neck and fighting back tears as the national anthem played.”

link:  Kayla Williams, 16, wins gold for US at gym worlds

additional link:  Williams shows what she can do with gold

Kayla Williams was relatively an unknown competitor early in the year. The gymnastics community know her now.

Kudos to Kayla Williams, gold medalist!

Catherine Forsythe

[Photo by Richard Heathcote/Getty Images]

There are times when sports drama are played out on the biggest stage. For Beth Tweddle, it is misfortune at the gymnastic world championships in front of her supporters. Beth Tweddle, a British gymnast, was performing in London before her ardent supporters:

“… Britain’s most decorated and beloved gymnast fell off the uneven bars during qualifying at the world championships on Wednesday, costing her a shot at another title in her signature event. She did qualify for the floor exercise final.

“It’s obviously gutting,” Tweddle said. “To be honest, it’s not been a great day.”

link:  Poor Beth! Tweddle misses final in signature event

The championships are not over for Beth Tweddle. She still has a floor competition remaining on Sunday. The event will mark whether she can recover from the disappointment from the uneven bars or whether that fall has had a lingering impact. Britain will be cheering for her.

Catherine Forsythe

[Photo by Richard Heathcote/Getty Images]

It was an American team without Nastia Liukin. Nevertheless, the American women captured the top two places in London, at the world gymnastic championships:

“Bridget Sloan grabbed a last-gasp victory in the all-around final at the gymnastics world championships on Friday after American team mate Rebecca Bross blew her chance with a bumpy landing in her floor routine.

Sloan sealed the title with a score of 57.825, eclipsing Bross by 0.050 of a point. Koko Tsurumi claimed Japan’s first women’s all-around medal at the worlds since 1966 when she secured a surprise bronze.”

link to the article by Pritha Sarkar for Reuters

additional link:  Sloan beats Bross to World gold

additional link:  Sloan edges Bross for title as Americans go 1-2 – again

As a high school junior, Kayla Williams is missing some classes. She is competing in London and focused on a world title:

“… The Huntington High School junior was vying to finish in the top eight in each of her two categories – vault and floor – to secure a place in the finals.

She came in number one in vault, with finals for that set for Saturday.

In the floor competition, she narrowly missed landing one of the top spots by coming in ninth. But she was named the first reserve in that category, which means she will also compete in the floor finals Sunday if one of the top eight cannot for some reason.”

link to the article by Elaine McMillion for the Charleston Daily Mail

[Photo by Richard Heathcote/Getty Images]

It is that balance beam again that is the problem for Bridget Sloan. She fell at the World Gymnastic Championships. This is the same apparatus which was a problem for her at the U.S. Championships in August:

“… Sloan began on beam and fell on a front somi early in the routine. The rest was steady (13.325). On floor her 1.5 twist through to triple twist was landed short. Clean piked full-in second pass and handspring-randi third. Nearly stepped out after a double pike…”

link to the article by Dwight Normile for International Gymnast Magazine

additional link:  Another rotation, another leader at gym worlds

additional link:  Pittsboro gymnast Sloan 3rd so far at worlds

[Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images]

The long road to the Olympic championship may begin in London, with the world championships next week. Nastia Liukin will not be competing. For the American women, Bridget Sloan will be the only member of the team that competed at the Beijing Olympics:

“At the ripe old age of 16 and 17, Russian Ksenia Semenova and American Bridget Sloan will stand out as the two Olympic veterans vying for the coveted women’s all-round title at the world gymnastics championships.

The European all-round gold medallist and the American champion are just two of the few familiar names out to make their mark at the O2 Arena in East London when the new Olympic cycle kicks off on Tuesday.”

link to the article by Alison Wildey for Reuters

additional link:  United States Enters the World Championships Seeking the Next Liukin

additional link:  Russian Ksenia Afanasyeva reportedly out of Worlds

additional link:  Sloan Gearing up for Worlds in London

[Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images]

The changes in gymnastic rules might have been motivated by finances. Accordingly, fewer teams will be competing in the final round of a meet:

“The NCAA Championships/Sports Management Cabinet has given final approval to one key rule change in women’s gymnastics.

Beginning with the 2011 National Championships, four teams will advance to the final round of the meet instead of six, which will shorten the event from three hours to two hours.”

link: NCAA approves key rule change in gymnastics

While this makes the final round fit nicely into a television time slot, it also makes errors in the early rounds much more costly.

For some teams, mistakes made earlier in the competition cannot be corrected later in the competition. Those errors might simply mean elimination.

Catherine Forsythe

Two injuries to Olympian Sandra Izbasa of Romania will make it impossible for her to compete in the gymnastic World Championships. That international competition is scheduled to be held next month.

Sandra Izbasa has a tear in her Achilles tendon and she has a broken bone in her foot:

“… Romanian Gymnastics Federation chairman Adrian Stoica says it will take Izbasa “months, years even, to recover.”

She was taken to Bucharest after the injury and will have surgery on Monday.”

link: Olympic gold medalist Izbasa out of worlds

additional link: Romanian Sandra Izbasa suffers ‘grave’ injury, will miss Worlds

Depending on the severity of the injury, Sandra Izbasa could be in a cast or walking boot for six to eight weeks after the Achilles tendon operation. That is followed by generally four to six months of rehabilitation to recover to strengthen in the leg and the tendon.

Catherine Forsythe

[Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images]

Let’s call it a hiatus, and avoid the term that Brett Favre bandies about.

It seems odd to consider that a nineteen-year-old could be finished with her sport. However, Nastia Liukin has removed this year’s gymnastic World Championship from her agenda:

“… “This is by no means a retirement or the end of my career,” Liukin said in a conference call. But Liukin, of Parker, will take an extended break from training and competition “to rest my mind and take the break I haven’t really had since the Olympics,” she said.

Liukin, who turns 20 in October, is no longer the single-minded teenager she was before the Beijing Games, where she won five medals a year ago.”

link: In need of a rest, Liukin to miss 2009 World Championships

The summer Olympic Games will be held in London July 27-August 12, 2012. If Nastia Liukin decides to compete in the London Olympics, she will be almost twenty three. Her competition from countries like China will be teenagers, as young as sixteen. At least their passports will say that they are sixteen.

Perhaps Liukin can take consolation that the Agne Kelleti of Hungary was almost thirty-six when she became an Olympic gold medalist in gymnastics. However, that was in 1956 in Melbourne.

Catherine Forsythe

[Photo by Nick Laham/Getty Images]