JADE SLAVIN achieved the best result of her taekwondo career when she triumphed at the Austrian Open last weekend.

The Consett fighter was competing in only her second tournament for almost 12 months after a lengthy lay-off because of injury.

However, there were no signs of rustiness as the former model beat World Youth Championship silver medallist Aylin Akdeniz 17-5 in the final of the 73kg weight division.

The success capped a superb weekend for Slavin, who also beat Serbia’s reigning Olympic champion and former World Championships silver medallist, Milica Mandic, 7-6 at the semi-final stage.

The victory over Mandic provided some welcome revenge for last month’s European Championships in Switzerland, which saw Slavin lose to the Serbian in her first tournament of 2016.

“With each match, I felt myself getting more and more confident,” said Slavin, who trained with Chi Taekwondo at Spennymoor before relocating to British Taekwondo’s high-performance centre in Manchester. “After beating Mandic, my confidence was through the roof.

“Overall, it was just a nice feeling to be back in action. It makes me want to keep going and going, and to get in more competitions.

“I was a bit wary of Mandic, but I had beaten her before so I knew I could beat her again. That’s 2-2 in our career meetings now.

“It’s just a shame I couldn’t do it at the Euros. I was actually most happy with the final against Turkey – that was my most exciting fight.”

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BRITAIN’S rowers will discover their Olympic fate on Thursday when the team for the Rio Olympics is officially announced.

Stokesley’s Kat Copeland should be selected to defend her lightweight double sculls title with Charlotte Taylor, with Durham’s Jess Eddie and Richmond’s Zoe Lee set to be named as part of the women’s eight.

Chester-le-Street’s Will Fletcher is expected to link up with Richard Chambers in the men’s lightweight double, with Northumberland’s Jamie Kirkwood in line to be selected as one of the reserves.