GYMNASTICS: BETH Tweddle should have collected her A-level results yesterday - but she had other things on her mind.

The former Queen's School pupil from Bunbury is in Anaheim, near Los Angeles, where the World Championships open tomorrow.

Beth, 18, is a medal contender for Great Britain on the asymmetric bars, but she is still recovering from an ankle injury which is likely to restrict her to competing on the bars and beam.

As the British and Commonwealth champion on bars and a European bronze medallist, she is expected to be in the final against rivals headed by Russian Svetlana Khorkina, who she beat recently in an international in Liverpool.

Beth decided before she left for the USA to ignore her exam results until she returned home, which will be following a holiday in California when the championships are over.

Said her mum, Anne: 'Beth will be disappointed if she can't do all the apparatus, but she is realistic. The important thing is for the British team to do well to qualify for the Olympic Games next year.

'She decided not to be distracted by the exam results. She wants to focus on the championships for now.'

Beth's Liverpool clubmate Melanie Roberts is now unlikely to take part in the championships. She travelled as a reserve and has not been included in the six gymnasts chosen to compete.

Her mum, Paula, believes Melanie, who lives in Saltney, won't be downhearted. 'We have spoken to her on several occasions and she is having a wonderful time,' she said. 'She knew when she went she probably wouldn't take part, but she is getting behind the team and enjoying the experience.'