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Dan aiming for Youth Olympics selection
Former Skyswood pupil and bronze medal winner for Great Britain at the IJF World cadet tour European championships in Spain, Daniel Mair - Credit: Archant
Selection for the Youth Olympics would be the ‘highlight’ of an impressive career for St Albans’ judo ace Dan Mair.
The 17-year-old Sandringham School student has been a force in the under-90kg weight class over the last 12 months. He won silver at the British Championships in November and bronze at his first European Championships, in Spain, earlier this year.
Those performances pushed him up to number one in Britain’s rankings for his age and weight category. Globally, his is ranked 42nd.
Mair travelled to Scotland earlier this month and returned with a gold medal draped around his neck after beating his closest rival, Welshman William Jones, in the final.
His domination of the weight class has put him in contention for the Youth Olympics in Russia. He’ll find out if he has made the team on June 2.
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“It’s high up there on my greatest achievements – I’m really happy just to be shortlisted,” said Mair.
“I’d be delighted to make the cut but it depends on how I perform in Portugal.”
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Mair travels to Coimbra, Portugal, at the end of May for the European Cadet Championships and he’s hoping to finish in the top five.
“To finish first is quite ambitious, but I’m hoping to place,” he said. “I’ve started to up my training in preparation. It’s tough to juggle training and preparing for exams, but it can be done.”
Mair returned to his former school, Skyswood, to talk to the pupils about his journey to the top of his sport.
He told them that he is totally focused on representing Great Britain at the Youth Olympics and how, with dedication, anything can be achieved.
