Leigh Olympic fencer James Beevers has vowed to bounce back after losing his foil crown at the British championships.

Beevers, 22, missed out on a third successive title when he was narrowly beaten in the final by British number four Richard Kruse at RAF Cosford.

He said: "I was disgusted! It was really disappointing because it was only by a few 'hits' - but I'll be back.

"It's been difficult this year because I've taken a full-time job in advertising in London and it's not been as easy to train.

"When I went to the Olympics I was training all the time and I'm only now beginning to reorganise my life to fit fencing in around the job."

Beevers also finished second in the team event when Thundersley-based Cyrano's finished runners-up for the second year in a row.

Beevers, whose father Martin was also an Olympic fencer, is now hoping to spend the rest of the summer training for the world championships in France in November.

A recent charge into the last 32 of the European Championships means he has high hopes of progressing further on the international circuit.

Beevers has also been boosted by funding from the World Class Performance Plan - a National Lottery scheme to help elite athletes.

Lost crown - fencer James Beevers

Picture: STEPHEN LLOYD

Converted for the new archive on 19 November 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.