Almost buried beneath the plethora of words allocated to the goals, gripes and groin strains from the overheated footy front last weekend was news of  arguably the greatest British sporting achievement of the year so far. Sensational is not too strong an adjective to describe the success of the nation’s gymnasts in the European Artistic Championships in Birmingham.

The GB team amassed an unprecedented  total of 15 medals  (senior boys: team silver, individual gold, silver and bronze; junior boys: team gold, four individual golds, a silver and two bronze; senior girls: team silver, two individual golds). 

So what has happened to make Britain potential world beaters, now  ahead of the once-prolific Russians and Romanians? Could it be that gymnastics is the new cycling?

The redoubtable Beth Tweddle, the best gymnast Britain has ever produced, who came away with two individual golds and a team silver, puts it  down to "a new belief, particularly among the younger gymnasts,  hard work, the right coaching  and lottery funding all coming together at once."

The 25-year-old Tweddle has become the sport’s talisman - or should we say say talisperson? - having made her international debut in 2001 and winning Commonwealth, European and world titles.

She has now topped the European podium five times and  has been world champion in the uneven bars in 2006 and on the floor last October at London's O2 : "A lot of people have asked me 'why do you keep going?' “ she says. "The motivation is still there and I have one dream - to win a medal in 2012. Any colour will do. I am very hopeful about our chances in the Olympics because there is now a great strength in depth, particularly among the women. And we have a great team behind us."

The same can be said for the men’s team where Daniel Keating won  gold on then pommel horse where his friend Louis Smith, whose bronze in Beijing was Britain’s first Olympic medal for a century, took silver. Together with four individual golds and team gold for the junior boys  (watch out for the brilliant teenage all-rounder Sam Oldham in 2012) this was easily the most successful  performance yet by a nation literally coming on in leaps and bounds. 

"Suddenly, in the last four years, we've developed men's and women's teams that have taken Europe by storm," says Trevor Low, who chairs the British men's technical committee. "But it has been a long, slow process, in particular building up the clubs and coaches. What was missing was the infrastructure, the tradition, the strength in our clubs and facilities. But now we've got some of finest facilities in Europe.

"Many of the team were amazed at the facilities they' saw in Birmingham and around the training halls. They ask how we did it. Well, it's what we've been doing for the last 20 years: building the resources to make this all possible."

It is almost 40 years since the Russian elfin Olga Korbut enticed the world to switch on to gymnastics, and despite the limited television exposure it has received in this country, outside the Olympics it has retained its allure, though the borderline between sport and showbiz is frequently obliterated, especially when floor exercises are performed to music.

Such is the theatrical potential of the sport that Simon Cowell is now giving an approving nod to souped-up gymnastic acts in ‘Britain’s Got Talent.’ Indeed it has – on the floor, the bars the beams and the pommel and vaulting horse.

In the Olympics, while the titans of track, pool and boxing ring may grab the headlines, gymnastics draws the crowds –and the TV viewers.

In recent years the sport has undergone something of a revolution. The days of gaunt-faced, anorexic pixies are no more. The crowds packing Birmingham’s NIA were witnessing the new shape of gymnastics today, and it is decidedly more Sporty Spice than Posh Spice.



Amanda Kirby, the most successful club coach in the country - Tweddle (pictured) is among her City of Liverpool pupils - explains that now there is more emphasis on strength and athleticism. "The sport hasn't really changed, neither have the skills required. But the training workload has. The time when young gymnasts were all skin and bone has passed. Now you need all-round fitness and a bit more muscle."

Also the emphasis has shifted away from pre-pubescent youngsters who were over the hill at 16 to more mature and experienced performers like Tweddle. Kirby, who has coached her since 1997, says of her: "The great thing about Beth is her mental strength, She is not exceptionally talented physically but she works tremendously hard. Her determination and dedication are phenomenal."

Dedication is certainly the name of her game. The line between perfection and pain is as delicately balanced as a pair of feet on the beam, and she has had to bounce back after a number of injuries.

A useful sprinter and long jumper before gymnastics totally took over her sporting life, her talent for athletics has helped her to become a better gymnast because she can more easily absorb the vigorous training schedules devised by her coach. "Gymnastics is a much tougher sport than it seems," says Tweddle. "It may all look very pretty but it is about hard graft. The strength and the different skills you have to apply are as demanding as any other sport, probably more than most."

She will defend her floor title at the World Championships in Holland in October after successfully defending floor and uneven bars European titles in Birmingham. Victory there surely will put her in pole position to be Sportswoman of the Year - if she isn’t already.

British gymnastics is now swinging on a star. And remember, 2012 will be a Leap Year.

Alan Hubbard is an award-winning sports columnist for The Independent on Sunday, and a former sports editor of The Observer. He has covered a total of 16 Summer and Winter Olympics.