TWO St Helens women are among the eight fighters that have been selected by British Judo for the upcoming World Championships which are due to be held in Budapest, Hungary from 6-13th June.
And the huge prize at stake for Amy Livesey and Lucy Renshall is securing the one Olympic spot in the -63kg category.
Selection for Tokyo will come down to the final qualification event, with a little over 500 points currently separating Renshall and Livesey.
Both fighters have made the podium this year with Renshall winning gold at the Antalya Grand Slam, following 5th and 7th place finishes at the Tbilisi and Tel Aviv Grand Slams respectively, whilst Livesey won bronze in spectacular fashion at the Tashkent Grand Slam, throwing her opponent in just 13 seconds.
Lucy Renshall
Prior to selection for the World Championships, it was agreed that the team would consist of fighters in direct or continental quota Tokyo Olympic qualification positions, or fighters identified by the GB Senior Coaching Team to have the potential to qualify for Tokyo, due to several factors caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.
The World Championships will be the final Olympic qualification event and there is plenty at stake for all British Judo fighters in Budapest.
Performance Director, Nigel Donohue, said: “This is a unique and unusual position that we are in, in that we have a World Championships in an Olympic year which is 1 month before the Tokyo Games and is also the final Olympic Qualification event.
"Our priority is the Olympic Games, but we have a number of fighters requiring Olympic qualification points to seal qualification or move into the top 8 of the world rankings, which will ensure being in a key seeded position in Tokyo.
“Saying that, this is also an opportunity to be a World and Olympic medallist in the same year which will create a bit of history, however, it is imperative that we get high quality performances in this event to build on the strong foundations of our success this year, give confidence and utilise the preparation programme as a spring board into the Olympic Games.
"What an exciting time it is to be a world class Judo fighter, in what has been a challenging 12 months for everyone on and off the mat."
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