A KIDDERMINSTER judo player has overcome all the odds to gain her black belt at the age of just 15.

Olivia Turner, from Samurai Judo Club, claimed her belt just a day before her sixteenth birthday after winning gold at the Nottingham Senior Open.

Despite being both autistic and heavily diabetic, Olivia, who is the reigning European SN Champion and Kata Champion, has achieved amazing success in mainstream competition.

Her coach, Andrew Haffner, said: “Olivia is simply an inspiration because of the way she puts heart and soul into her training. She has shown that she can defy the odds and that hard work and consistent training pays off.

"After the event on Sunday morning in Nottingham, she was back at the club on Sunday afternoon helping referee at one of our local tournaments.”

Samurai's latest black belt won her first major title by taking gold in 2014 at the Kent International Open, followed by gold at the British Schools SN Championships two months later and a further gold at the full British SN Championships later that year.

In 2015 she went a stage further in mainstream judo with gold at the Scottish International Open, as well as gold at the European SN Championships.

The following years saw her retain both the British and European titles, as well as becoming the first ever British junior judo player to win a European Kata gold when she won the European SN Kata Championships with her kata partner Luke Mole (kata is the formal demonstration of judo, as opposed to contest judo).

She took medals at four other major mainstream judo tournaments in Europe that year as well as bronze at the British National Championships, gaining her a place on the England mainstream judo squad.

Having been runaway winner on the county judo medals table for 2016 and the first Worcestershire player ever to win 30 competition medals in a single year, this year she is already in what looks like a two-horse battle with her friend and clubmate Leah Grosvenor for the 2017 race.

Like Leah, Olivia is not only a contest and kata player but also a qualified referee and assists with coaching for younger players.