Judo's Euan Burton told Sky Sports News he is aiming to improve on his World Masters bronze.
Bronze is only a reasonable start to the year, says Brit
Judo's Euan Burton told
Sky Sports News that the disappointment of finishing seventh at the Beijing Olympics will inspire him to greater deeds in the year to come.
Burton, 32, secured bronze in the 81kg at the recent World Masters in Kazakhstan but remains determined to prove he can become the best on the globe.
Reflecting on his medal in Kazakhstan, he said: "It was a reasonable start to 2012, I guess you'd say. I felt like I could have won the tournament. I lost in the semi-final to the guy who is the reigning Olympic champion [Elnur Mammadli]. It was a tight match.
"I beat the former World Champion [Ivan Nifontov] at the event and won against a French guy [Axel Clerget] who I'd never beaten before so there were some good victories, but I'm not satisfied with third spot on the podium.
"If you rest on your laurels and pat yourself on the back, you start slipping off fairly quickly. So bronze is good but gold would certainly have been better."
Mature
Burton claimed the -90kg title in Sunday's Senior British Closed Championships at Sheffield and in the coming weeks will compete in Paris and Germany before stepping up his training intensity.
He remains driven by the memory of his performance in Beijing 2008.
"It was a great experience but not one that I want to repeat as far as results are concerned," he said. "I lost in the quarter-final to the [player] who was the reigning world champion back then.
"Again, it was one of those results that was commendable but not what I wanted.
"I don't think I've changed a huge amount as a person [since then] but I feel I've improved as a judo player.
"I'm more mature than I was; even though I'm getting a little bit older I think I'm in better condition than I was then and I've had a string of very, very good results over the last four-year period that gives me the confidence that I can improve on the performance in Beijing."
