Karate star fights for world top 50 spot

Newbury’s Ellie Gudgeon is climbing up the karate world rankings as she competes across the globe and looks to gatecrash the top 50 before the end of the year.

The 22-year-old, who won bronze at the Commonwealth Games in September, has already competed in Athens in 2023 as she targets another successful 12 months.

Gudgeon was an impressive 11th in Greece last week and got her hands on a silver medal at the Central England International Championships as she builds on her Commonwealth triumph.

"I was happy with 11th in Athens, it was one of the biggest competitions of the year and a bit of step up," she said.

"It was a good way to start the year."

Gudgeon's set to travel to Canada, Poland, Portugal, Cyprus and Turkey this year but, while the jet-setting lifestyle might sound glamorous, it's also a lot of hard work.

Gudgeon said: "I'm training really hard.

"I love competing abroad but it's hard, there's a lot more pressure.

"It's great to visit other countries but a lot of the time it's a case of arriving on Thursday night and leaving on Monday morning."

Now ranked as world number 78, Gudgeon has big dreams, including a potential Olympic bow if karate is re-selected for the Games.

"I don't set too many longer-term goals, I try not to get ahead of myself," she said.

"But of course the Olympics will always be the dream, it's the ultimate goal."