• London Olympics 2012

Tweddle belatedly wins medal

Beth Tweddle took bronze on the uneven bars © Getty Images

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Beth Tweddle finally achieved her dream of winning an Olympic medal as she claimed bronze in the uneven bars on Monday.

In the process, she became the first British woman ever to win an Olympic medal in gymnastics.

Tweddle, so unlucky to miss out on any silverware in both Athens and Beijing, was hoping to bring down the curtain on an illustrious career with a medal at her home Olympics, and did so after an agonising wait at the ExCel Centre.

Third in the standings with just the top qualifier, all-around champion Gabby Douglas, to go, Tweddle could only watch as the American made a mistake in the middle of her routine, one that robbed her of her momentum and ultimately ensured the bronze medal would be heading to the 27-year-old.

Gold was claimed by Russia's Aliya Mustafina, who produced a remarkable technical routine and, crucially, stuck the landing in order to score 16.133 - the only woman to go over 16 on the judges' scorecards.

He Kexin, a gold medallist in Beijing four years ago, took silver. Back in 2008, Tweddle finished fourth but there was real controversy surrounding He's age - with many suggesting she was just 14 at the time, too young to compete under international rules.

China's team officials always maintained she was 16, however, and her gold medal performance was never formally challenged.

This time, however, Tweddle ensured there were no excuses or controversies for her disappointment. She produced one of the most difficult routines of the competition to wow the London crowd, with only the dismount preventing her from perhaps taking gold.

On landing the Bunbury native lurched backwards as the crowd gasped, but she gathered herself and found her balance to ensure she avoided a point deduction and, eventually, mean she did enough to take bronze.

Shortly afterwards, Kristian Thomas took to the arena to attempt to emulate Tweddle and win a medal in the individual vault. The hero of Great Britain's bronze-medal winning team performance was unable to match the standard required, however, stumbling on his second vault as he finished down in eighth.

South Korea's Yang Hak-Seon won with a magnificent average of 16.533.

Women's uneven bars - final standings

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