Liverpool is to bid to host the 2022 World Gymnastics Championships, the city council has said.


If successful, the event would bring more than 700 gymnasts from about 80 nations to the city's Echo Arena complex on the waterfront.


Former world champion Beth Tweddle said "it fills me with a huge amount of excitement and great pride" to imagine the championships in Liverpool.
The last time the championships were held in the UK was in Glasgow in 2015.

Liverpool mayor Joe Anderson, said the city has "world-class facilities" and "the X factor in our passionate crowds".


The unsuccessful bid for the 2022 Commonwealth Games "undoubtedly boosted the city's reputation for its ability to host prestigious sporting events," he added.


The World Championships will be the first event for nations to qualify for the 2024 Olympics in Paris.


The venue on Kings Dock has hosted the British Championships since 2012 and, as part of the bid, British Gymnastics said it will continue to host these championships until 2022.

The bid, submitted by British Gymnastics to the Federation of International Gymnastics (FIG) and supported by UK Sport, is set to be endorsed by Liverpool City Council's cabinet on 15 December.


The federation is expected to announce the winning bid in May 2018.