Chelsie Giles claimed silver at the World Judo Championships to add to her European gold earned earlier this year.
The Coventry judoka, 25, was in strong form in the -52kg category in Tashkent to surge through to the final and guarantee her maiden World Championship medal.
Olympic champion Uta Abe, from Japan, clinched gold with a single waza-ari a minute and 40 seconds into the fight, with Giles unable to produce a score in the remaining two minutes to settle for silver.
And Giles was thrilled to have secured a medal on the world stage after a long day of competition.
She said: “I am so happy to be a World medallist. It feels like a dream.
"I started the day a bit slow but as the competition progressed my confidence grew, and my performances got better and better.
“To face two Olympic champions along the way shows how strong the field was today. Thank you to my coaches and team I couldn't have done it without them.”
Giles produced an ippon in both of her first two fights to overcome China’s Liping Liu and USA’s Katelyn Jarrell before two waza-aris in two minutes against Poland’s Aleksandra Kaleta proved enough to progress to the semi-finals.
The 25-year-old then secured herself a medal with a hard-fought victory against Kosovan judoka Distria Krasniqi.
It's 🥈 for Chelsie Giles at the @Judo World Championships#JudoWorlds #WeAreGBJudo🇬🇧🥋 pic.twitter.com/7BiTOqwgHi
— #WeAreGBJudo🇬🇧🥋 (@BritishJudo) October 7, 2022
The pair could not be separated after the regulation four minutes, with Olympic bronze medallist Giles producing a golden score one minute and 19 seconds into overtime.
Giles then battled hard against Abe, who now has three -52kg World Judo Championship golds to her name, having also claimed the title in 2018 and 2019.
The silver completes a successful year for Giles, who won European gold in Sofia in April after beating defending champion and 2020 Olympic silver medallist Amandine Buchard in the gold medal fight.
Sportsbeat 2022