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Tweddle focused on 2012 after royal recognition

Beth Tweddle was Britain's first world champion in 2006 © Getty Images

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Beth Tweddle admits her failure to win an Olympic medal in Beijing may have been a blessing in disguise.

The world and European champion received her MBE from the Prince of Wales on Friday, after she was named in the New Year's honours list. The Liverpool gymnast admitted she was more nervous about collecting her MBE than performing routines in front of a crowd.

"I spend my life flying through the air as a gymnast, but I'm more nervous about taking three simple steps forward to meet the Prince of Wales," she told the Daily Mirror.

After finishing fourth in Beijing, Britain's first ever gymnastics world champion suffered heartache when she fell from the uneven bars in last year's World Championship at London's O2 Arena. But just days later she recovered in stunning fashion to claim gold in the floor event.

Tweddle admits that failure to win an Olympic medal has inspired her to focus her efforts on winning a medal in front of her home crowd in London in two years' time.

"In a funny way, coming fourth in Beijing was not the end of the world for me," she said. "If I had won a medal there I was going to retire last year, but missing out motivated me to carry on until London."

Tweddle steered Britain to their first team silver medal at the European Championships in Birmingham last month, and she is focusing on October's World Championships in the Netherlands rather than the British National Championships this summer.

"I won't be the fittest for [the British Championships]," she said. "I'll just be fit to do it, not like the Europeans," Tweddle said in the Telegraph. "Then I'll have the whole summer to compete for the worlds in Rotterdam in October."

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