Sports Personality preview show looks back at Tweddle's 2009 Sports Personality of the Year
Venue: Sheffield Arena Date: Sunday, 13 December Time: 1900 GMT Coverage: Live on BBC One, BBC Radio 5 Live & BBC Sport website. We will be dedicating a day to one of the top 10 contenders from 2-11 December (in alphabetical order).
Beth Tweddle had a year she will never forget. Britain's greatest gymnast won gold after a glorious routine on the floor at the World Championships.  | 606: DEBATE |
What made the 24-year-old's achievement all the better was that it was in front of a huge home crowd at London's O2 Arena and it came just days after she suffered a fall during her signature event on the bars. But like all top class athletes, Tweddle dusted herself down and came back to perform a brilliant routine which was full of high risk and technical difficulty. The likeable gymnast had also won double gold at the World University Games in June - what a year! After starting the first 18 months of her life in South Africa, Tweddle's family moved back to England where at the age of seven the British ace was enrolled at a gymnastics programme at the Crewe and Nantwich club. The One Show meets Beth Tweddle's family The talent was evident and Tweddle became a member of the British junior national team before progressing to the senior team where she became champion for the first time in 2001. She reached new heights when she became the first Briton to win a European medal - bronze at the 2002 championships. More European success followed, but her breakthrough came in 2006 when she became Britain's first world champion, with victory on the uneven bars. That achievement was further rewarded when she was voted third at BBC's Sports Personality of the Year.
Highlights from Tweddle's year:
| 
E-mail this to a friend 
Printable version 
Bookmark with:
What are these?