 Tweddle won World Championship bars bronze in Anaheim in 2003 |
Gymnast Beth Tweddle believes she has finally hit upon an asymmetric bars routine tough enough to deliver gold at next month's European Championships. The Briton revamped her programme after missing out on Olympic honours in 2004.
The new work-out, which includes three tricky releases and rates a maximum 10 in difficulty, earned Tweddle a World Cup qualifying win in Ghent last week.
"I really feel the routine's good enough to top the medals," she told BBC Sport ahead of the trip to Hungary.
Tweddle travelled to Athens with high hopes of becoming the first British woman to win an individual Olympic gymnastics medal.
But an unlucky early draw in qualifying resulted in some harsh marking and she failed to progress to the bars final, which was won by Emilie Lepennec.
There is no doubt that the Frenchwoman will pose a major threat to Tweddle's European ambitions.
Rising Czech Republic star Jana Sikulova, Dutch gymnast Laura van Leeuwen, Romanian Nicoleta Daniela Sofronie - who finished sixth in the Olympic bars final - and Volha Tiarentiava of Belarus will also be dangers.
But the City of Liverpool athlete is ranked world number one on her favourite apparatus.
The glamorous two-time Olympic bars champion Russian Svetlana Khorkina, who denied Tweddle Euro gold by just 0.075 points in Amsterdam last May, also retired post-Athens.
And many of Tweddle's other opponents will be unknown and untested at major championship level.
Tweddle, who was awarded an impressive 9.60 points for her bars performance in Belgium, faces the formality of final qualifying for a place on the GB team for Hungary at Lilleshall on 18 May.
 |  After the disappointment of Athens, my coach and I sat down and we agreed I needed to shake things up a bit and develop a new routine |
But a string of impressive results since returning from ankle surgery in December leaves no doubt that the 2002 Commonwealth Games bars gold medallist will be in contention at the Europeans, which run from 2-5 June.
And she is all set to give the new programme a final dress rehearsal at the French International in Paris-Bercy on 20-21 May before heading to Debrecen, where she first burst on to the international scene by landing European bars bronze in 2002.
"After the disappointment of Athens, my coach [Amanda Kirby] and I sat down and we agreed I needed to shake things up a bit and develop a new routine," Tweddle said.
"It took a while to get it right but now we feel we've got there."
As well as attempting to win the bars, the four-time - and reigning - British all-round champion also hopes to compete in the floor exercise.
Tweddle's results in her secondary specialism continue to improve and she was greatly encouraged by a fourth-place finish in that discipline in Ghent.
But the 20-year-old is quick to play down her podium chances.
"Let's just say we'll see how it goes," she said.
Tweddle also believes her injury problems are finally behind her following an operation to remove loose bone fragments from both her ankles.
"I'm not feeling any pain and have been training full-time since January," she said.
MMIX
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