Beth Tweddle won Great Britain’s first world gymnastics championships gold medal when she claimed the uneven bars title in Aarhus, Denmark, on this day in 2006.
Tweddle, then 21, had fallen from the bars in the all-round section of the championships in the previous day’s events, but produced her best form when it mattered in the individual competition.
A score of 16.2 points saw her finish ahead of America’s reigning champion Anastasia Liukin with Italy’s Vanessa Ferrari taking bronze.
“All my hard work has finally paid off,” said Tweddle, who 12 months previously had managed bronze behind Liukin.
“A lot of people told me it would come – but I didn’t think it ever actually would. It hasn’t sunk in yet.”
An ankle injury meant Liukin could take part only in the bars competition, and Tweddle paid tribute to her rival.
“I didn’t know if I would win because I hadn’t seen Liukin’s routine, but I have seen her in training, and she was pretty spectacular,” Tweddle said to BBC Sport.
Liverpudlian Tweddle took world championship gold on the floor in 2009 at London’s O2 Arena and also won the uneven bars title again the following year.
After claiming an Olympics bronze medal at the 2012 London Games, Tweddle, a six-time European champion, retired from competitive action in August 2013.
