THORNBURY Olympian Sally Conway has been named among a 12-strong Team GB squad that will compete at the 2018 European Judo Championships.

Conway, who claimed bronze at the Rio Olympics, will represent Britain in the -70kg category at the tournament in Tel Aviv, Israel from April 26-28.

Currently ranked 12th in the world, the 31-year-old former Marlwood student has had a great start to the season, claiming gold at the prestigious Paris Grand Slam where she toppled world number one Chizuru Arai to become the first British woman to take the title at the event in more than 20 years.

Preparation for the tournament continues this weekend as she competes in the Antalya Grand Prix in Turkey.

Following the squad announcement, Nigel Donohue, British Judo performance director, said GB would "optimistically, go into this event with high expectations", having selected a strong and exciting team of experience and potential.

He said: "We have started the year building on the success in 2017 with some fantastic performances in a number of Grand Slam and Grand Prix with the highlights being Sally Conway wining Gold in Paris and likewise, Nekoda Davis winning Gold in Dusseldorf.

"The team that we have selected is a very strong mix of youth and experience. Our Senior athletes such as Nekoda, Sally, Natalie and Ashley have consistently performed at the very highest level and go into these championships in great form.

"Also, it is very exciting to give some our young athletes the deserved exposure at a Senior Championships and although at this stage of their careers there is little expectations, I know that they will go into this event well prepared to give their very best performance. I am sure that they will do GB proud.

"Additionally, given the quality of our female programme, it is pleasing that we can also select strong reserve athletes at both -63kg and -70kg. It has been a long time since we have had such strength in depth in the GB programme

"Finally, we wish the team the very best at these championships and confident that they will put in some strong performances for GB."