You will have noticed from our social media posts that there is a new Jaffa Brand Ambassador in town, Beth Tweddle, 2012 GB Olympic gymnastics medallist, no less!
Our partnership with British Gymnastics started in 2021, and what a year we’ve had! Within that time we have proudly sponsored the Men & Women’s Artistic Gymnastics British Championships, Jaffa Trampoline, Tumbling and DMT British Championships, and The World Gymnastics Championships. However, our fun hasn’t stopped there we have met amazing Gymnastics fans and made many friends along the way!
One of those friends is none other than Beth Tweddle MBE! Beth is Britain’s most successful female gymnast to date – winning Olympic Bronze, three world titles, five European titles and seven British titles! WOW we were just in awe of Beth’s amazing accomplishments and thought who better to help us spread #JaffaJoy at the World Gymnastics Championships Liverpool 2022!
We are launching a competition this weekend for 3 Jaffa fans to win a Meet and Greet experience with Beth in person at the World Gymnastics Championships in Liverpool on Saturday the 29th October which will include 4 VIP tickets for the day too. Head over to our socials for your chance to enter!
To get to know her better, we asked you to send us questions for Beth which you did with great enthusiasm, so thank you. We already shared her answers on our social media channels but we thought they were worthy of a shout out on our blog too.
So without further ado we will hand over to Beth Tweddle, GB Olympic Gymnast to “spill the juice”!
🤸 Thanks for your question Harry Franklin: What is my favourite apparatus? Is it vault, bars beam or floor?
During training it was always bars. I could be a lot more inventive. There were so many skills to have a go at. But actually during competitions it was floor. The fact that the crowd could get involved, you could use your own music, you could show your personality off and I just felt it was a little bit less nerve racking than the rest of the apparatus.
🤸 Hey Imogen Rodenhurst: What age did I start gymnastics and what advice would I give to a young gymnast starting their journey?
I first started gymnastics when I was 7 years old. I’d tried lots of other sports first but gymnastics was the one that I enjoyed the most. The best piece of advice that I can give to any young gymnast or anyone wanting to start anything is find something you love, find something that you enjoy. And also have a go at it. You will never know whether you enjoy it until you try it.
🤸 Hi Mo: Who did I look up to and why?
Throughout my career I looked up to Kelly Holmes and Paula Radcliffe. Throughout their careers they achieved some amazing results but they also had ups and downs to achieve those results, so it made me think, do you know what, if they can do it then why can’t I?
🤸 Hi Megan McGee, really interesting question: If I could only ever buy one Jaffa product again, what would it be?
It would definitely have to be the Easy Peelers.
🤸 Hi Katy Baker: Apart from physical fitness, what other skills do I think gymnastics taught me throughout my career?
Now that I have stepped away from the competitive element of the sport, I realised how many other skills that I learnt as a young gymnast and throughout my career, whether that is determination, perseverance, time management, team work. All of these elements I’m now using in everyday life.
🤸 Hi Alex: What injuries have I had to deal with throughout my career?
The first major one was when I was 12 years old. I broke my ankle and had to have that operated on. I think the most significant one was picking up a knee injury just 100 days prior to the Olympic Games. I was always very lucky throughout my career, I had great doctors , great physios, and obviously the support from my family and my coach, so I would always recommend, make sure you get it checked out and listen to the advice.
🤸 Hi Lauren, nice to hear your question: What do I do when I keep getting a block on backward tumbling?
I think the first thing is speak to your coach. I had a twisting block and I always spoke to Amanda about it and there was different things that we did. We took steps back, we went on to soft surfaces, we tried lots of different things to combat it. So the biggest piece of advice I can give is make sure you speak to your coach about it.
🤸 Hey Stephen Blair, great question: what was it like, stood on the podium winning that Olympic Bronze compared to winning my first ever medal?
It was an absolute dream to win that Olympic medal and to be able to stand on the podium in front of a home crowd, but compared to that first medal? Do you know what, without all of the other medals, without all of the other ups and downs throughout my career, London definitely wouldn’t have been possible, so London is always going to hold the special place in my heart.
🤸 Hi Ellie: Did I ever feel pressurised as a gymnast?
Throughout my gymnastics career, I always did it because I absolutely loved it. There were competitions where I felt pressure, but the pressure was always done from myself.
🤸 Hi Rachel Hancox: How many easy peelers do I think I can peel in one minute?
That is a very good question. I’ve not tried it so maybe we should set a challenge. Who wants to have a go?
We will of course, be following up with Beth on how many easy peelers she can peel in one minute, perhaps when we all get together at the World Gymnastics Championships!
Watch this space and keep an eye on our Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts!