100 Team GB contenders for London 2012: Tom Stalker

Boxing (light welterweight)

Born: 30/06/84

Career highlights

Stalker added to his impressive medal collection when he picked up a bronze medal at the World Amateur Championships in Azerbaijan in October 2011. He has won consecutive silver medals at the annual European Championships, either side of his triumph at the 2010 Commonwealth Games when he easily beat Scotland's Josh Taylor in the final.

Following his return from Delhi he won the lightweight title at the inaugural GB Championships, held in his home town of Liverpool. He has since moved up to light-welterweight.

His performances were honoured with two prestigious accolades: Amateur Boxer of the Year, awarded by the Boxing Writer's Club of Great Britain, and the 2010 Olympic Athlete of the Year trophy from the British Olympic Association.

Career background

He got into boxing at the age of 18 as a way of escaping a life of petty crime; he admits he was robbing cars and taking drugs.

That, as well as the death of his grandmother and impending fatherhood, led him to join a boxing club in Liverpool. He said he was hopeless at the beginning, but his stock quickly rose.

Did you know?

He took gold at the European Amateur Championships in 2008 but was denied the chance to compete at the Olympics due to the performances of his friend Frankie Gavin, who frustratingly then failed to make the weight and did not even box in Beijing.