British Judo’s Charlie Ayre won the men’s -60kg silver at the Qingdao Grand Prix, securing a career-first Grand Prix medal and a major international breakthrough.

The Middlesborough judoka, whose Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games selection was recently announced, progressed through a strong international field on his way to reaching the final of one of judo’s top events.

On winning the silver medal in China, 20-year-old Charlie Ayre said: “It’s a big personal milestone for me. I feel as though I’ve been building up to this result throughout the year so far, and it’s a really satisfying feeling to be on the podium for the first time at a World Tour event."

On his way to the final, Ayre faced multiple top-level international opponents, including world number 6 and Paris Olympian Michel Augusto from Brazil.

To progress to the final, Ayre also faced world number 15 Enzo Jean (France), world number 28 Samariddin Kuchkarov (Uzbekistan) and world number 60 Maximilian Heyder (Germany).

In the final he faced Japan’s Hayato Kondo, who has won multiple World Tour medals, with the world number 13 retaining his gold medal from the Qingdao Grand Prix event.

This result, which came at a ‘high-level international competition on the International Judo Federation (IJF) circuit’, starts the Olympic qualification period for the 2028 Los Angeles games.

Ayre will now continue to train and prepare for the upcoming Commonwealth Games, where the world number 96 will continue his ‘progression at the highest level of world judo’.

At the 2026 Glasgow Commonwealth Games, Ayre and the rest of the men’s -60kg competitors from around the world will compete for the Commonwealth title on Friday, 31st July.