A SHOT-PUTTER from Northallerton has his sights set on the Olympics after beating the qualification requirement in the Czech Republic.

Scott Lincoln threw a personal best of 21.28 metres at the World Athletics Continental Tour in the Czech city of Brno on Sunday.

This surpasses the Olympic requirement of 21.1 metres and Scott is confident he can follow it up with victory at the British Championships later this month and secure his spot on Team GB.

The 28-year-old's achievement is all the more remarkable as he fits in his training around working three-days a week for his father's firm, Lincoln Builders.

Scott, who has won the British Championships for the last six-years, says he is 'pretty confident' of finishing in the top two at the contest from June 25 to win his place on the plane to Tokyo.

He said: "It feels absolutely unbelievable to be honest. I have always wanted to go to the Olympics and count myself as an Olympian, so it is exciting.

"It has taken a lot of hard work, there have been some ups and downs and set-backs and it has been incredibly hard to get to where I am now.

"But I am on a bit of a buzz now and there's hopefully more to come."

Scott, a former Darlington College student, says reaching the Olympics would compensate for previous disappointment when he wasn't selected for the Commonwealth Games.

He said: "It just shows that with hard work, anyone can do it. I have always had setbacks but I worked through them with one goal in mind and here we are now a few years later."

He added: "I don't know any others (top athletes) that work, especially in a manual job so it is quite unusual.

"Obviously it's something to maybe look at and transition into full-time athletics if I can and see what we can achieve."

Scott, who lives in Brompton, is a member of the City of York Athletics Club and Paul Wilson has been coaching him as a volunteer since he was 14. He said: "It is an amazing achievement for anyone to become an Olympian.

"He works hard, he is dedicated, we have had ups and downs but I can't fault his achievement and how far he has come over the last couple of years.

"It is great for me as a coach, but he is the one that has to do it."