BURY ABC boxer Muhammad Ali will fight at the Rio Olympics after winning the European qualifying tournament in Bulgaria.
The Keighley-based flyweight beat Bulgarian opponent Daniel Asenov in the semi-finals on Friday to book his place, one of eight British fighters to do so on a momentous day for the team.
It was sweet revenge for the 19-year-old, who lost to Asenov in the final of the European Championships last year.
He then went on to clinch gold with victory over Armenian Narek Abgaryan in the final on Saturday.
Ali won the English Elite Championships last April in only his fourth senior fight, but has struggled since suffering a deep cut above his eye following a clash of heads at the European Games.
The cut reopened to stop his progress at the World Championships in Doha, where he had hoped to seal his place at the Olympics.
But Ali put off an operation to fix the problem in a bid to make the plane to Rio.
And after registering a couple of victories for the British Lionhearts in the World Series of Boxing he finally clinched his spot in the British team with an accomplished display in Sofia.
The teenager took to Twitter to celebrate his achievement.
"It's all paid off, I can't believe it," read one tweet from his official address @malijnr1996
Ali has come through the Bury ABC ranks under the tutelage of highly respected trainer Mick Jelley, who helped mould the young careers of Amir Khan and former world super-bantamweight champion Scott Quigg.
Khan made his name as a teenager at the Athens Olympics in 2004, when he won a silver medal, and Ali has made no secret of his ambition to go one better than his trainer's former protege.
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