09. November 2005  
Great Britain  
Artistic Gymnastics

British Team ready to demonstrate high standards in Melbourne

The British Team who will represent the country at the 38th World Championships in the Rod Laver Arena, Melbourne from 21st until 28th November, are flying out to Australia on Sunday, 13 Nov. 2005....


The 38th men's world are at the same time the 29th worlds for women, started at 1934 world championships in Budapest.

This year's event - these first post-Olympic Championships with 301 athletes representing 54 counties and seven of the 2004 Athens Olympic Games gold medallists competing - are expected to turn in to a significant event and reveal the names of the new talents who will play a key role in the world of Gymnastics up to Beijing 2008.

Beth Tweddle (GBR)

The British Team is led by Beth Tweddle from Liverpool, the 2003 World Bronze medallist on Uneven Bars in Anaheim (USA), who had added a number of victories and medals in the most prestigious international competitions ever since. In Melbourne she will be a strong challenger not only on the Bars, but also in the All-around and Floor.
With good chances to make the Finals on Floor and Vault is the quickly maturing first year Senior Imogen Cairns from The Academy Gym Club (near Bristol), who won Bronze medals on these two apparatus at the Glasgow Grand Prix and World Cup at the end of October.
The newcomer in the National Team, the British-American Shavahn Church, from Tarzana, California, is a very athletic and competitive gymnast and could surprise the world elite, particularly on Vault and U. Bars.
The 2004 Junior European Champion on A. Bars, Rhian Pugh from Bristol Hawks Gym Club (5th in Glasgow), will make her Senior début in Melbourne and on a good day could reach the Final.

Ross Brewer (GBR)

The triple British Champion Ross Brewer (26), from Sutton School of Gymnastics, is the only Brit to compete in the All-around of the Men’s event, while ten years younger Louis Smith, from Huntingdon Gym Club, will defend his reputation as an up-and-coming threat to the world’s aces on Pommels. He is the 2004 Junior European Champion and was Bronze medallist in Glasgow.

The Head of the British Delegation in Melbourne, Brian Stocks, President of British Gymnastics said: “British Gymnastics have marked an incredible progress over the last few years and we hope that our competitors will prove this in Melbourne. Winning the bids to host the 2009 World Championships and the 2012 Games in London has given a huge boost to our morales and ambitions, and Melbourne will be the stage for the new Olympic cycle to make them known to the rest of the world”.
Source: Baga website / Vera Atkinson