Britain’s experienced team at the 2007 under-23 European Championships proved to be a force in Salzburg at the weekend picking up five medals – one silver and four bronze medals.

Tom Reed won silver in the –81kg weight category, one better than the bronze he won at the same event in 2006, when he was competing in the –73kg category.

Commenting Kate Howey, Head of Delegation and Lead Coach of the Development squad said, “A silver is a fantastic achievement Tom, particularly as he still has another year in this age group. He has made massive strides and the fact he has taken silver as well as moved up a weight category shows that he is developing the right direction.

Last year at the 2006 –23 European Championships Reed’s bronze was the only medal won by the British team. The five medals won at in Salzburg demonstrates a significant improvement in the overall performance of Britains players at this level.

“We have a lot of strong players coming through in this group, which is encouraging as this is the age group that contains many of our 2012 hopefuls”, commented Kate.

Britain’s four bronze medals were delivered by Sarah Adlington in the +78kg weight category, Sally Conway in the –70kg weight category, Faith Pitman at –57kg and Andrew Burns at –100kg. Lee Shinkin narrowly missed out on a medal finishing in 5th place.

Sally Conway and Faith Pitman, have both made regular appearances for Britain during the Senior European World Cup season. 22-year-old Pitman, who recently placed 7th at the 2007 Minsk World Cup for Women, is looking strong in the Olympic qualification ranking list, currently sitting in 6th place. To qualify a British place in this weight category requires a 5th place or better ranking at the end of the qualification period.

“There is no doubt that the team delivered on their potential”, said Howey. “In fact, expectations were exceeded and they all rose to the occasion"

Sarah Adlington won bronze at +78kg