British Championships next week.

Guildford Spectrum 3/4th July

World and European Champion Beth Tweddle returns to Guildford

The Women’s British Championships is one of the highlights of the British Gymnastics calendar. The event includes competitions whereby the Senior and Junior British All-around Champions are proclaimed, along with the Apparatus Champions in the Senior, Junior and Espoir categories, on the second day of competition.

The 2010 British Championships will reunite the majority of Great Britain's Team Silver medal winning gymnasts from the 2010 European Championships; Beth Tweddle, Becky Downie, Nicole Hibbert, Niamh Rippin and Jocelyn Hunt made history in Birmingham earlier this year and will again all be looking for support from the British crowd.

Beth Tweddle will return to the British Championships having missed the event last year as she competed at the World University games. Since then Beth has gone on to win the World Floor title and the European Floor and Bars Titles!

Beth Tweddle: “I’m really excited to be making my return to the British Championships in Guildford. The last 12 months have been incredible for me, and the fact that I have won the World Floor title and the European Floor and Bars titles all in Great Britain, shows that having the home-crowd can really make a difference. To be back in Guildford competing in front of many of the fans who have given me such amazing support is something I'm really looking forward too.”

Unfortunately Becky Downie the defending Senior Champion, won't be able to defend her title due to injury, meaning her hopes of securing her third senior title in a row to continue her amazing run of British Championships stretching through two Espoir titles, to two Junior titles to two Senior titles must come to an end.

Other Seniors to watch out for include Jenni Pinches, Imogen Cairns, Hannah Whelan, Marissa King and Danusia Francis who for various reasons are all on the comeback trail in Guildford.

Later this year the Senior gymnasts will be looking to claim places either in their Home Countries National Teams for the Commonwealth Games in Delhi (3-14th October) or for the British Team at the World Championships in Rotterdam (October 17-24th). The 2010 British Championships acts as one of the qualifying events to make these Teams so is of vital importance to many of the gymnasts competing.

In the Junior category the ones to watch will be those that took part in the Junior European Championships- Ruby Harrold, Laura Mitchell, Rebecca Tunney, Billie Mackenzie and Jessica Hogg along with Venus Romaeo and Lizzie Beddoe who return from injury.

We wish all the gymnasts the best of luck for a fantastic 2010 British Championships,

(Article from British Gymnastics)