THORNBURY Olympian Sally Conway finished seventh at the European Judo Championships in Montpellier.

Competing in the -70kg, Conway made a great start to the competition with a dominant win over Irina Gazieva of Russia to march into the quarter-finals.

Great Britian’s top world ranked athlete then went on to face home athlete Fanny Posvite and just a single yuko score separated the pair after four minutes in the Frenchwoman’s favour.

The repechage put her up against former European U23 silver medallist Barbara Matic, who won a tight match to go through to the bronze medal fight and leave Conway in seventh.

Megan Fletcher, who taught at Chipping Sodbury School on a one-year placement in 2013, competed in the same weight category.

After a tight contest, she lost out by two shidos to twice European bronze medallist Juliane Robra of Switzerland.

Great Britain Olympic Women's coach Kate Howey, said: "On another day Sally would have been fighting for a medal. Her preparation had been great and both her and Megan fought well in all their contests.

"At this level, the margins and competition is so tight that small decisions make all the difference and we're disappointed that despite putting in strong performances, we've not come away with better results."