BUNBURY'S Beth Tweddle is jumping for joy after creating sporting history.
The 21-year-old former Crewe and Nantwich Gym Club ace claimed Britain's first gold medal at gymnastics' World Championships by winning on the uneven bars in Aarhus, Denmark.
Tweddle wowed judges with a near-perfect performance on her favourite apparatus on Friday.
She said: 'All my hard work has finally paid off and I'm absolutely ecstatic. A lot of people told me it would come but I didn't think it ever actually would. It hasn't sunk in yet.' Tweddle scored 16.200 points to beat defending champion Anastasia Liukin into second place, with newly crowned world all-around champion Vanessa Ferrari in third.
Proud parents Anne and Jerry Tweddle were in Aarhus to witness their daughter's achievement.
A member of the City of Liverpool Gymnastics Club, she is Britain's most successful gymnast. She won world bronze in 2003 and 2005, struck gold at the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester and is the European champion on uneven bars.
The Liverpool John Moores University student reached three finals in Denmark, finishing eighth in last Thursday's all-around final and fourth in Saturday's floor final.
Her coach, Amanda Kirby, added: 'So many people around us have been waiting for so long to see this routine presented by Beth in the way she did it. She was calm and concentrated before the competition. In fact, we still can't realise what exactly has happened.
'Maybe in a few days we will.'
