DORCHESTER'S Aaron Cook hopes his gold at the British Open in Manchester will keep him firmly on the road to success at London 2012.
The 20-year-old – who earlier this year opted to leave the Team GB elite training programme – beat compatriot Craig Brown, who was a member of the Athens Olympic squad, in the under-80kg final at the Regional Arena at the weekend.
The 2010 European champion failed to medal at this year’s WTF World Championship in Korea, where Team GB enjoyed a record haul including gold for Sarah Stevenson.
However, after a period of settling into his new regime, Cook feels he is progressing well to stay ahead of the competition in the race to secure the under-80kg slot in Britain’s Olympic squad.
He said: “I am a lot happier now and am on a roll, which we want to keep going and step it up for hopefully a gold in London.
“Since the disappointment of the World Championships, I have had massive motivation.
“It might have been good for me to learn that before London and has made me push so much harder, and train sometimes three times a day, six days a week to try to get back to where I was.
“Now it is about pushing on and hopefully we can do that.”
Cook, ranked third in the world, added: “There is still a long way to go, it is just about good preparations and staying positive. I am a lot more happy now.
“I want to get selected for the European Championships next year and hopefully retain my title, then the Olympics is next.”
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