ST HELENS' Amy Livesey kept up a great family tradition this week by topping the podium in the -63kg category at the Under-23 European Judo Championships in Bratislava, Slovakia.
The 21-year-old, who comes from Haresfinch but is now based in Walsall, became the first British woman to win the European gold on Saturday.
It topped a great weekend for the family, with older brother Owen Livesey carrying on his mission to rack up Rio Olympic qualification points by winning the -81kg silver medal in at the Wollongong Oceania Open.
And in late September 20-year-old Bekky, the youngest of the Livesey siblings, took bronze at the European Juniors in Oberwart.
Amy had to win her title the hard way, defeating number one seed Daniela Kazanoi from Belarus in the semi finals.
She had started the day with an ippon, defeating Poland's Magdalena Miller to progress to the quarter-finals.
Two yuko scores on the board against the dangerous Nadja Bazynski of Germany, who has medalled at Grand Prix level, set up a semi-final match-up with Kazanoi.
A tiring and hard fought encounter saw the British judoka score through waza-ari and yuko to set up a gold medal contest with Croatian Maja Blagojevic.
It was another strong performance from Livesey as she took the contest with a waza-ari and a yuko scored in the four minute contest.
Livesey said: "I felt good, I felt strong, but I tired towards the end, I managed to dig in and win gold. My hardest fights were the quarter and semi-finals, both girls medalled here last year, and felt very strong.
"My next competitions this year will be the European Club Championships in Tbilisi, Georgia for a French team and the British Championships, both competitions are in December.
Livesey, who trains alongside her sister Bekky at the British Judo Centre of Excellence in Walsall and is coached by Olympic bronze medallist Dennis Stewart.
She too, like her brother Owen, has Olympic ambitions - albeit Tokyo 2020.
"Next year I will be hitting the Grand Prix’s in preparation for the Olympic Games in Tokyo," she said.
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