A Carlisle-born badminton star will take to the court at the Tokyo Olympics in the coming weeks as she bids for gold.

Lauren Smith and Marcus Ellis are a couple on and off the badminton court and have their sights set on becoming the first British mixed doubles pair to stand on an Olympic podium since Gail Emms and Nathan Robertson in 2004.

Spending nigh-on every minute of the past 15 months together has only brought the duo closer together and Carlisle-born Smith, who went to William Howard School in Brampton, hopes that chemistry could prove decisive when it matters.

Few Olympians will be as prepared for the Tokyo bubble as Smith and Ellis – and the former has vowed to ‘do some damage’ this summer.

“We are two very driven, very determined people and we bring the best out of each other,” said the 29-year-old.

“I went to play a tournament in France a couple of months ago and we realised that was the first time we hadn’t been in the same place since lockdown began, so it was very strange.

She added: “We’ve had a lot of practice at living together and playing together, even before lockdown started, so we definitely used it in a positive way.

“It might have been quite easy if we were on our own to sit back and not do so much but we’ve found a way to get the best out of each other – and we don’t have too many arguments!

“We know the level we’re capable of playing at and if we play our best, we can beat anybody on our day. We are going out there to do some damage.”

Ellis took bronze alongside Chris Langridge in Rio but the pair will not have the chance to better that effort after being overlooked for the men’s doubles spot in favour of Sean Vendy and Ben Lane.

Smith, by contrast, will be fighting on multiple fronts having been paired with Chloe Birch in the women’s doubles – the event in which she made her Olympic debut alongside Heather Olver last time out.