MOST brides would be straight on the warpath if their guy broke off halfway through their dream honeymoon in sun-kissed Samoa to take care of the day job.

But Olympic judo contestant Chris Sherrington from Billinge got his special ‘leave of absence’ approved by new wife Zoe when he fought in a world judo championship on the South Pacific island last year.

That day Royal Marine Chris came away with the gold medal in his heavyweight 100kg category.

And on the way to winning that title, the powerhouse fighter hammered Jake Andrewartha, the Australian he will encounter in the first eliminator of the Olympic judo competition in London this Friday.

That victory in Samoa saw Chris pick up his first ever World Cup gold medal after the 28-year old Brit defeated Thormodur Jonsson of Iceland and qualified him for selection for the 2012 London Olympic judo Team.

Currently ranked 52nd in the world, Chris is the first judo heavyweight in 20 years to represent Great Britain at any Olympic Games.

Now living in Broxburn, West Lothian, Chris joined the Royal Marines at 17 and launched his judo career at 21.

He qualified for the British Trials the same year and by the end of the competition was ranked third in Britain.

Looking every inch a future champion, the Royal Marines offered Chris the chance to pursue his sport full time. With only six months' full-time training under his belt he competed again at the British trials, winning that and becoming the best +100kg judo player in Britain.

Chris progressed to be crowned three times GB Champion and double British Open Champion, He continued to sharpen his skills before an unfortunate spell of injury, spending most of 2009/10 recovering from four operations.

Back on track in November last year Chris took Gold in Samoa, which laid the platform for the 2012 London Judo Olympic Team.

He said: “I’m delighted to have been selected for the Great Britain Olympic judo team for 2012. This is the best achievement of my career in judo and will surely be an experience I’ll never forget. I’ve been building up to this with high hopes for eight years so it’s an amazing feeling for the dream to come true.”.

And what does Zoe, who works in public relations in Edinburgh, think of his medal chances?

“Chris is really up for it,” she told the Star.

“You can sometimes get odd results thrown up in judo eliminators.

“Though Chris could have to face a tough Russian if he comes through his first bout, I really think he is in with a great chance.”