FENCER Ben Peggs has his sights set on Rio after winning a gold medal at the first-ever European Games.

The 24-year-old, who grew up in Bramley, travelled to Baku, in Azerbaijan, for the games, which are Europe's regional Olympics.

Peggs competed in both the individual and team foil events. His gold medal came in the team event, with Britain beating Italy 45-41 in the final to earn a place on the top step of the podium.

He said: "We thought we had the potential to get a medal because we were all in good shape but for it to be gold is pretty special.

"Being on the podium was great. It's something I'll never forget and it would be fantastic to be in the same position next year at the Olympics in Rio."

Peggs had a tough time in the individual event, failing to reach the knock-out stages, but he was still able to take plenty from the experience.

"I would like to have done well in the individual event, but it was about getting experience and testing myself at the highest level," he explained. "Baku was my first major multisport games. It was a big experience for me and a massive learning curve."

The team event saw squads of four compete against each other. Peggs joined team-mates Marcus Mepstead, Alex Tofalides and Richard Kruse to beat Germany, France and Italy and claim the title.

Peggs' next big aim is the Rio 2016 Olympics. Qualification as an individual will be tough as there are only 64 places, but Peggs is not ruling anything out.

"Competing at the Olympics is one of my big ambitions and I will do everything I can to qualify for Rio," he said. "Because tactics and technique are a massive part of fencing, a lot of guys peak in their late 20s, so hopefully the best is still to come for me."