Norfolk's Colin Oates has been named as part of a seven strong British judo team that will compete at the 2012 Paris Grand Slam, one of the last major events before the Olympic Games, at the beginning of February.
Oates, from North Lopham, the British number one at 66kg, goes into the event full of confidence having won the British Closed championships last weekend.
The Paris Grand Slam, which is widely regarded as one of the greatest spectacles in judo, is the highest points scoring event before the Olympic Games and this year has attracted over 700 judoka to the Palais Omnisports de Paris Bercy.
A good performance in Paris would go a long way to guaranteeing Oates a place at his first Olympics.
He said: 'Being the highest-ranked fighter in my category at the moment means I am in a good position but I still have a lot of work to do.
'If I was selected then it won't be time to relax, that is when the real hard work will start because I would want to be challenging for a medal.'
Further Grand Slams are staged in Moscow, Rio de Janiero and Tokyo with 300 World Ranking List points available to gold medallists, 180 for silver and 120 for bronze.
Oates will be appearing on The One Show tonight. You can follow Colin's road to the London 2012 Olympic Games on twitter at @kumo49
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