THREE young athletes could be fighting their way to gold at the next Olympics.
Taekwondo hopefuls Nicole Huntington, 16, Tony Stephenson, 21, and Darren Chapman, 23, have just completed the Fighting Chance: Battle4Brazil programme launched by Team Great Britain.
The trio from Team Elite Kickboxing (TEK), in Station Road, Beeston, took part in the nationwide search for young athletes who are willing to become full-time taekwondo trialists for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games and are now waiting to see if they have made it through.
Coach Anna Jermakova said: "Taekwondo is now looking to other sports like kickboxing to find new talent.
"Our guys had to go through three stages of training which were used to identify potential candidates. We are incredibly proud of them and hope they make it all the way.
"Being picked for the GB team is the ultimate achievement and we hope they all make it."
The Fighting Chance programme was split into three phases, with 15 women and 30 men making it into the third and final selection stage which consisted of training for eight hours a day for seven days.
Office worker Darren Chapman, 23, from Beeston said: "Now it is all about the waiting and I am sure that I did as well as I could. I was training for the last seven months but I have been kickboxing for 18 years.
"If selected I could train with Team GB full-time and that would mean everything to me.
"Not everyone gets to do what they love as a job but hopefully I will be able to.
"We were all in the top eight per cent of those that entered which is a great achievement in itself."
The other TEK hopefuls live outside Nottinghamshire but travel to Beeston every two weeks to train.
Student Nicole Huntington, 16, of Ipswich said: "The trials were hard but I enjoyed them at the same time. I put everything I had into it and now the wait is making me nervous.
"I really want to be a professional athlete and if I do not make it this time I will keep trying."
Hopeful Tony Stephenson, 21, of West Cork, Ireland, said: "I come over and train in Beeston every two weeks and have been doing for over a year now. As well as this I train every day and I am now waiting to hear if I have made it through.
"I feel that the trials went as well as they could and I would like to thank everyone who has helped me get this far."
The trio are expecting to hear if they have been selected within the next week.