London's Lutalo Muhammad claimed gold for Great Britain at the European Taekwondo Championships in Manchester on Friday.
The 20-year-old, making his debut in the competition, recorded a superb 13-4 win over world number nine Augustin Bata, of France, in the under-87kg division.
Muhammad, who stepped up from the under-80kg, had earlier looked on his way out of the tournament when trailing 10-1 in his quarter-final against Croatian Nikola Bojo, before recovering to win 12-11 on the golden point rule.
"This is a great victory and all the fans made it that much sweeter," he said.
"It was a bit different moving up to this division because these guys are quite a lot bigger.
Aaron Cook will bid to defend his under-80kg title on Saturday, with the weight category having been pre-nominated for one of the four places on the Olympic squad, which will be announced later this month.
Muhammad won a silver medal at the German Open in the under-80kg earlier this year, and has not yet given up on making it to London 2012.
"I can only do my job which is performing well on the mat," he said.
"I think I have done my job. I am not one of the selection panel, I will leave that up to them."
Fellow Olympic hopeful Jade Jones, a world silver medallist in 2011, will also fight at the Regional Arena on Saturday.
