Tweddle wins Britain's first world gymnastics gold

Elizabeth Tweddle won Britain their first world gymnastics gold ever after she grabbed the uneven bars title at the Aarhus gymnastics world championships on Friday.

The 21-year-old, a bronze medallist on the apparatus at Melbourne 2005 worlds, outplayed defending champion Anastasia Liukin of the United States to earn 16.200 points, 0.150 of a points ahead of Liukin who settled with a silver.

Newly-crowned world all-around champion Vanessa Ferrari of Italy took bronze with 15.775 points.

"All my hard work has finally paid off," Tweddle said. "A lot of people told me it would come, but I didn't think it ever actually would. It hasn't sunk in yet."

Liukin, who was expected to be one of the top contenders in the all-round final, could only participate in the bars competition because of an ankle injury. She came through with a brave performance on a difficult routine, but the injured ankle hindered her landing.

"I tried to block it out and not think about it, but it hasn't stopped hurting," Liukin said as her eyes welled up with tears. I did the best routine I could. There are always a few things you could miss here and there but I did the best I could. Coming into the worlds, I wasn't able to do any dismounts for two weeks."

"She's a phenomenal gymnast," Liukin said. "She did a really good job and I'm happy for her."

Source: Xinhua