ACCRINGTON'S Sam Smithson has taken a step closer to her dream of Olympic glory after winning two bronze medals in international tournaments.

The 26-year-old GB judo team member took third place in the US and Canadian Open competitions to stake her claim in next year's qualifiers for the 2004 Olympics.

But first she had to endure a gruelling journey flying for 20 hours in an RAF Hercules from England to an air force base in Arizona, then a further 12 hours on a Greyhound bus to Las Vegas where she was taking part in the American Open.

Sam, from Fern Gore Avenue, Accrington, said: "I had a few days to recover and managed to get some sunbathing in and got accustomed to the weather and the altitude."

Fighting at 52k Sam lost her first match, against a Mexican, in the last 30 seconds after leading throughout the match, which meant she could only fight for third place.

She went on to beat two Americans, including last year's silver medallist, before a fight to the end against the number one American junior, a local girl, in in front of a partisan crowd to take the bronze.

Then it was on to Montreal for the Canadian Open where she got through to the semi finals, beating opponents from America, Canada and Germany.

Her next fight pitted her against the Mexican who had beaten her in the American Open, and this time she made no mistake. "She beat me the week before so it was like a grudge match," said Sam. The RAF flight lieutenant impressed her competitors so much that after the tournaments she was asked to stand in for an injured American fighter in a friendly against Canada, which the Canadians won.

"It's such a relief to get your first international medal under your belt. It's the first one that means anything because it's ranked," she said.

Competitions are split into A and B categories. In order to take part in an A-ranked contest, the Olympic qualifiers, competitors need to have a medal from a B-ranked contest such as the American and Canadian Opens.

Sam will be in action again in the first week in December in the British Trials, from which she took silver last year.

"It's going to be really tough because I'm chasing the number one but there are a lot of people chasing my spot as well. I think there will be seven or eight that will be gunning for each other," she said.

"I'm confident I won't get any lower than the top four but I'm going for the number one spot."

A top four spot would see her safely through to the qualifiers starting in January and held in several countries.

"I'm not sure which I will get selected for but I would love Prague or Rome because I've never been and I've always wanted to."