Beth Tweddle Announcement
BETH TWEDDLE ANNOUNCES RETIREMENT AND LAUNCHES FIRST ATHLETE-LED LEGACY PROGRAMME ON OLYMPIC SITE
Today (Tuesday, 6th August) on the anniversary of her greatest triumph at the London 2012 Olympics, Beth Tweddle MBE, Britain’s greatest ever gymnast, returned to the Athletes’ Village to announce her retirement and launch the first athlete-led legacy programme on the Olympic site.
Having previously ruled out competing at the 2016 Olympics, Beth announced that she is to retire from competitive gymnastics. Beth’s impressive career included an Olympic Medal - winning bronze on the uneven bars at London 2012, triple World Champion, six-time European Champion, Commonwealth Champion and seven-times consecutive National Champion. Following her Olympic success, Beth took a break from competitive gymnastics, taking part in the 2013 series of ITV's Dancing on Ice, which she won with skating partner Daniel Whiston.
Details about Beth’s legacy programme were unveiled at Chobham Academy, a new school, which opens next month in East Village, the new residential development on the site of the Athletes’ Village. The school, which overlooks where Beth stayed during the Olympics, will host a Beth Tweddle Academy, part of a national roll out of programmes run by Total Gymnastics, set up by Beth and fellow Olympian, Steve Parry, to provide the opportunity for as many children as possible to take up gymnastics, within schools, leisure centers and gymnastics clubs; with the aim of developing the sport around the country.
Chobham Academy, working closely with Total Gymnastics, will provide gymnastics for children aged 2-14 years old. The programme combines the Beth Tweddle Gymnastics (formerly Total Gymnastics) Gym Stars programme for 2 to 8 years and the British Gymnastics Proficiency programme for 8 to 14 years.
Beth commented: “My decision to retire has not been easy and it’s the reason I wanted to give myself some time. Gymnastics has been my life for over 20 years and has given me so much. It's because of this that I'm delighted to be launching a legacy programme on the Olympic site and the national roll out of Beth Tweddle Academies and Gym Stars."
“The sport has come such a long way since I started and this is my way of ensuring that we continue to develop stars of the future. I believe that every child should have access to gymnastics coaching, for both enjoyment and competition, and my programmes aim to increase participation and the quality of coaching available.”
Steve Parry fellow Director of Beth Tweddle Gymnastics (formerly Total Gymnastics) commented:
“This is a real sporting landmark and we feel that as much as this an announcement of Beth’s retirement from competitive gymnastics, this is fantastic opportunity to celebrate all of her successes and commitment to the sport”
“It is an absolute delight to have Beth as not only a director of Beth Tweddle Gymnastics (formerly Total Gymnastics) but also our ambassador for the company, she is truly inspiring and has an amazing passion that filters through into everything the company stands for. At Beth Tweddle Gymnastics (formerly Total Gymnastics) we share the same mission of “wanting to provide every child the opportunity to access gymnastics”, we are successfully on track to achieve this. We offer gymnastics session in a non-competitive environment providing children of all abilities the opportunity to learn key fundamental core skills, this is done through our own Gym Stars programme which we have operating in over 46 leisure centres and at 11 Beth Tweddle Academies across the UK.
“It’s fantastic that we will be setting up a new Beth Tweddle Academy that will be hosted by Chobham Academy, this will provide a true legacy for gymnastics on the Olympic park, so a big thanks to school for providing this great opportunity."
If any other schools or leisure providers would like to get involved and run gymnastics sessions at their site, then please contact Beth Tweddle Gymnastics (formerly Total Gymnastics) on 0844 357 9653 or visit the website at www.totalgymnastics.co.uk