Great Britain’s Olympic fencing medal hopefuls will be put through their paces by fitness experts at Middlesex University in the build-up to Rio 2016.

The British Fencing World Class Programme (WCP) agreed a deal that will see their athletes - four of whom competed at London 2012 – working with strength and conditioning coaches at the Hendon-based university for the next three years.

The team will train with the sports science experts four days a week, working specifically on their speed and distance of attack, as well as general strength and fitness.

Middlesex University’s lead strength and conditioning coach Anthony Turner said: "As we've seen in most Olympic sports, the difference between a gold medal and being off the podium can be tiny.

“From now until the Olympics, we'll be monitoring the fencers’ physical performance while they are taking part in competitions, to gain a fuller picture of its demands and their progress relative to this."