Tattooed taekwondo star Charlie Maddock ready to wait for olympic inking

Great Britain taekwondo star Charlie Maddock likes to celebrate her successes with new tattoos - and the Stoke teenager is prepared to wait a little while longer for the ink she wants most of all.

It has become almost de rigeur in recent years for athletes to mark their selection for an Olympic Games by getting a tattoo of the five rings somewhere upon their person.

And Maddock, whose personal tattoo count already stretches towards double figures, with her latest - a skull with a monocle - due to be added later this month, is determined to follow the trend just as soon as she makes it to her sport's biggest stage.

Barring a series of big wins starting at the Manchester Grand Prix later this month, Maddock is realistic enough to know she is unlikely to force herself high enough up the rankings to get the ink ready for Rio next year.

But she said: "I will give everything I've got while I've still got a chance, but realistically Tokyo in 2020 is the big one for me and I am sure I will still be committed in four years' time.

"I would love a tattoo of the Olympic rings, but I will leave it until I get to the Olympics and maybe win a medal. It will make it more special that way."

Maddock produced a series of stunning performances to claim European Games gold in Baku earlier this year, beating Serbia's Tijana Bogdanovic in a thrilling golden point final.

Further medal success followed in Israel and Poland, but Maddock's belated emergence on the big stage is unlikely to nudge her into a crucial top six ranking slot in the competitive -49kg category.

Instead the former kick-boxer is focusing on maintaining her steep trajectory in the senior ranks by claiming more success in a rare appearance on home soil this month - provided she can keep her nerves in check.

Maddock added: "This is my first time competing at home apart from the in the nationals, and I expect to be much more nervous with my mum and dad and friends watching.

"I'm so determined not to fluff up in front of them so I'm going to treat it like a normal competition and try to pretend they're not there when I'm fighting."

Maddock is part of a highly successful GB taekwondo programme, with Olympic champion Jade Jones and world champion Bianca Walkden also set to compete in Manchester.

And the inevitable publicity that comes with being part of such a successful squad has come as something of a hindrance to the quietly-spoken Maddock, who admits she still finds aspects of her rise a challenge.

"I still haven't got used to being in front of cameras and it took a long time to sink in in Baku because everybody wanted to talk to me," said Maddock.

"I'd never experienced anything like it and it was a bit overwhelming. People were coming up to me in the street saying they'd seen me in Baku and well done for the gold.

"Lots of people think I'm going to go to Rio and win the gold medal. I have to explain to them that it doesn't work like that - qualifying is very hard and I might not make it.

"But my experience has just made me get back in the gym and get even hungrier to compete and see where it takes me. Being on the GB squad has become part of my life and I am loving it."