Joshua aims for double Games glory

He is targeting the 2012 London Games on two fronts after establishing himself as the number one judo player and wrestler in the country in his age group.

The 16-year-old from Harwood has confirmed he is the man to beat in both sports at under-18s - in which he still has two more years to compete.

He capped a successful season with victory in the national judo trials to earn a place at the European Championships in Bosnia in July, and also won the English Wrestling Championship.

He is part of the British academy team at wrestling and has no intention of giving up the sport at which his father, Jason, won a European Junior Championships silver medal.

But his immediate focus is on his judo in which he has been selected for the world class talent squad which travels to Portugal and the Czech Republic for training and competition leading up to the European Championships.

At 6ft 2in and 14 stone of muscle, the Turton High School student cuts an imposing figure on the judo mat where he has taken two prestigious gold medals in the Midlands and North West championships during the season.

Sponsored by Marmalade Communications in Manchester, he trains at Cheadle Judo Club and remains a member of Tonge Tigers Judo Club where his dad coaches.

"I coached him from being five years old," said Jason.

"He is a natural talent and I always told him he'd do well if he could beat me and now he can beat me at judo, although I can still hold my own against him at wrestling.

"He still has two years left at under-18s and is already number one in Great Britain at both sports, so he's going really well. Being selected for the world class talent squad means he is classed as an elite athlete as there are only 20 judo players in it.

"He's concentrating on judo but he's not giving up the wrestling. He wants to carry on with both sports which is good because they compliment each other, especially when it comes to dealing with the styles of some of the judo players abroad."