Tweddle, the most successful British gymnast of all-time, has been the European and world champion on the asymmetric bars but her dramatic victory on the floor at the 2009 World Championships in front of home crowd at the O2 Arena in London last October probably ranks as her greatest achievement.

However, following her huge disappointment at the Beijing 2008 Olympics, where Tweddle finished just outside of the medals in fourth place, the girl from Cheshire seriously contemplated retiring form the sport.

But after considering her options, Tweddle has backtracked on her decision and has opted to continue in order to compete at London 2012.

Tweddle told insidethegames: "Straight after the Beijing uneven bars event where I finish in fourth place, I was interviewed within an hour of the competition ending and I was feeling very disappointed.

"When they were asking me so many questions about continuing in the sport, I just thought, 'I can’t take another four years of that training.'

"But once I had a chance to cool down and think it all over, I realised that four years in the grand scheme of things isn’t actually that long.

"But the major reason I stayed on as an elite gymnast is because the 2012 Games are in London.

"If they weren’t in London, I don’t think I would have the same sort of drive to compete as I do right now."

Tweddle believes that after competing at the top level for almost a decade, competing at London 2012 will be the perfect way for her to bow out of the sport.

She said: "To have a home Olympic Games as your last competitive event is absolutely fantastic and the perfect way for me to finish my career.

"Every athlete has dreamed of going to an Olympics Games and to have the kind of support that I had at the O2 Arena [at the 2009 World Championships] behind you throughout your Olympic experience will no doubt be an amazing thing in 2012.

"London is always at the back of my mind and although I take each competition as it comes, London is obviously the ultimate goal for me now and I am very happy that it will be my last event and the place where I can say goodbye to the competitive side of gymnastics.

"I still have one more goal left to achieve in the sport and that is to get an Olympic medal."



Tweddle is looking forward to returning to the O2 in 2012, when she is expecting something special.

She said: "I think the atmosphere at the O2 Arena in 2012 will be even better than it was at the 2009 World Championships last year which is really saying something.

"A lot of people said to me how loud the 2009 World Championships were on television and I replied that it was probably nothing compared to what it was actually like in the arena.

"I just hope that the British athletes can take it all in and use the atmosphere to their advantage rather than get burdened by it.

"That’s going to be the key thing, particularly for some of the young athletes.

"But I’m sure that with help from our coaches and experienced ex-athletes, our team will be able to use the crowd as a boost and not see them as added pressure."

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