FOR ONCE, Tom Reed will be in no rush to hurry his judo uniform to the washing machine after announcing that last weekend’s Kazakhstan Grand Prix will be his final competition.

The 30-year-old judoka, whose career highlight came when he won a silver medal in the men’s 81kg category at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, has given up on his bid to reach a first-ever Olympics this summer and is now looking forward to the new post-retirement chapter of his life.

Devizes’ Reed, who came through the ranks at Devizes budo club, has accumulated a wealth of international experience during his career, having won a gold medal at the 2013 Miami Grand Prix as well as seven World Cup medals.

Reed, who trained at the University of Bath, has also twice become a British champion in his weight class but the Wiltshire ace was unable to sign off with a flourish in Kazakhstan as he was eliminated in the first round to Vladimir Zoloev of Kyrgyzstan.