Glasgow Grand Prix

British superstar Beth Tweddle, the recently crowned European uneven bars and floor exercise champion, headlines the Glasgow Grand Prix that begins Friday.

Beth Tweddle at the 2009 Europeans

Tweddle and four other British Olympians are among gymnasts from 24 countries scheduled for this weekend's Glasgow Grand Prix, five months before London plays host to the 2009 World Championships.

The annual Glasgow Grand Prix typically takes place in the fall, but was moved up this year to accommodate the world championships, scheduled for Oct. 13-18 at the O2 Arena in London.

The British men's lineup includes 2008 Olympic pommel horse bronze medalist Louis Smith and 2009 European all-around silver medalist Daniel Keatings. Both gymnasts are scheduled to compete pommel horse only at the Glasgow Grand Prix, part of the FIG World Cup series for individual events only.

Tweddle is scheduled to compete on uneven bars and floor exercise, the events she won at the European Championships held last month in Milan. Reigning British champion Becky Downie is in the lineup for vault, uneven bars and balance beam, and Olympic teammate Hannah Whelan plans to compete on beam and floor.

Other European, world and Olympic medalists scheduled for Glasgow include Diego Hypolito (Brazil), Anton Golotsutskov (Russia), Yuri van Gelder (Netherlands), Gabriela Dragoi (Romania), Krisztian Berki (Hungary), and Mitja Petkovsek and Aljaz Pegan (Slovenia).

A few top competitors expected in Glasgow withdrew, British Gymnastics spokesman Tim Peake said.

"As always there have been late changes — Sandra Izbasa (Romania) is out as are the Latvian and Ukrainian delegations," Peake told IG.

Swiss star Ariella Käslin, the 2009 European champion on vault, also withdrew after breaking her toe in practice.

The men's roster notably includes two gymnasts from North Korea, a nation which rarely competes in international events. The spectactular Ri Se Gwang is in the lineup for four events, including his specialties of floor exercise and vault. Ri, the 2006 Asian Games champion on vault, has competed a piked Dragulescu (double front-half) on the event.

London is also the site of the 2012 Olympics, while Glasgow will play host to the 2014 Commonwealth Games.

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Source: intlgymnast.com