GYMNASTICS: HAPPINESS and heartbreak stood side by side on Sunday as two friends heard their Olympics fate.

Beth Tweddle's Athens hopes are still burning brightly today but clubmate Melanie Roberts's dream is shattered.

They had hoped to fly to Greece together next month, but only Beth will be on the plane after the 16-year-old from Saltney missed her spot in the Great Britain team.

Nineteen-year-old Beth, who lives in Bunbury and is a genuine contender for only Britain's third Olympic gymnastics medal, collected her fourth British title in Guildford last weekend at the final Olympic trial.

And although Melanie continued her courageous comeback following a serious arm injury by finishing seventh overall at the championships, she was overlooked for the eight-strong Great Britain squad which includes two reserves.

Said her father Coyle, a Saltney hairdresser: 'Melanie is gutted. We all are. She had a good competition but lost out on a place in the team by the skin of her teeth.

'She has worked so hard to get where she has following the injury and this was her best score since the accident. She is getting better all the time but girls who are carrying injuries were picked ahead of her.

'She will get over it and her time will come. She should be selected for the Commonwealth Youth Games in Australia later this year.

'But at the moment she is devastated. Ten girls were called in by the selectors and two came out in tears. It was our worst weekend ever.'

Liverpool Gymnastics club coach Sarah Attwell shared Melanie's disappointment: 'She did the best she could but now we have to console her and help her get over it,' she said. 'Her day will come.

'Although she finished seventh overall at Guildford, there were three other trials to consider, so it wasn't all down to one event.' Melanie was fourth on bars, third on beam and fifth on the floor at the championships.

Bunbury-based Beth, whose routines have been featured in a new Olympics computer game, scored a personal-best 37 points to comfortably retain the British title, winning the bars and floor events and finishing second on the beam.

'I was really happy with my performances,' she said.

'I feel in very good form but it is a relief that the British team has now been named.'

She leaves with the squad for Great Britain's Olympic holding camp in Barcelona next Wednesday to complete her final preparations, before setting off for Athens hoping to realise her ambition to win a medal.

The artistic gymnastics competition runs from August 14-23. Charlotte Cosgrove, 15, of Connah's Quay and also a member of the Liverpool club, continued her improvement by finishing sixth overall in the British junior championships at Guild-ford.

She hopes to represent Wales at the Commonwealth Youth Games in Australia in November.