Tweddle fears legacy of success could be more kids than gym clubs

 LONDON 2012 chairman Lord Coe was given a glimpse of his Games this weekend - and he liked what he saw.

FITTING STAGE: London Olympic venue, the O2, staged an impressive World Championships - although there were concerns over ticket prices

The once-unloved Millennium Dome is now known as the 02 Arena and, due to IOC regulations, will be branded the even less catchy North Greenwich Arena when the Olympics are in town.

But what's in a name? It's what's inside that counts.

Lord Coe could barely hide his glee as he witnessed a capacity crowd cheer Britain's Beth Tweddle to floor gold on the final day of well-staged World Gymnastics Championships.

No need for computer generated graphics. This was a real-life preview of the vision he set before the world in Singapore four years ago.

But Tweddle, an elder stateswoman of her sport at 24, is concerned.

She insists more money needs to be poured into gymnastics to capitalise on its growing profile.

Louis Smith's bronze at last year's Olympics was followed by a historic all-round silver for Daniel Keatings and Tweddle's gold this week.

Aspiring Olympians have no shortage of examples.

"We've got the kids coming through the doors wanting to do gymnastics but there just aren't the facilities in the UK," said Tweddle, adding a downbeat note to an upbeat weekend.
 
"We need to get rid of all the waiting lists and use recreational clubs as a feeder for potential stars of the future.

"The British team is one of the best we've had in a while, we've got such belief and everyone is so supportive of each other."

ALL THAT GLITTERS: Beth Tweddle wins a second world title with a floor gold medal at London's 02 Arena (Getty Images)
 
Lord Coe also spent time meeting with officials from gymnastics' world governing body at the 02, in a bid to allay their fears about the hosting of rhythmic events at Wembley Arena. The bigger attraction artistic competitions will be staged at the 20,000 seater 02.

He insists he wants to see 10,000 more kids taking up each Olympic sport for every British medal.

It's a worthy ambition but if Tweddle is to be believed, where will they train?

And to compound matters, a top British coach believes two medals should be the very limit of British ambitions in three years time.

Paul Hall, who guides the careers of both Keatings and Smith, told Sportsbeat's Holly Hamilton: "Everything is being geared towards coming back here and everyone is looking ahead to competing then.

"The whole team can look forward to that and we have some great medal hopes.
 
"I'm very proud of how the British team has performed this week."

Additional reporting: Sportsbeat's Holly Hamilton  

 

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