Megan Fletcher believes her experience of last year's Commonwealth Games could be invaluable in Baku.
Fletcher beat home favourite and Baku team-mate Sally Conway and then New Zealand's Moira de Villiers to claim the women's 70kg judo title in Glasgow.
And she wants another podium in Friday's women's 70kg competition at the European Games, which also doubles as her sport's European Championships this summer.
“The Commonwealth Games was of massive importance to me because until you do something like that, win a major gold medal, you can’t say you are a real force,” she said.
“I had all this expectation on me and from myself too and to come through that and live up to it has done wonders for my confidence.
“And it is this new attitude that I will carry on over to Baku and hopefully I can have another good competition. I feel like my performance in Glasgow got the ball rolling for me and I really want to progress to the top level now.
“There isn’t much further for me to get to now, but should I do well in Baku that would get me closer to Rio which is the next step, so I am really excited for it.”
Double British champion Fletcher, 25, has enjoyed solid form since winning in Glasgow but had to switch her training around after the European Championships, slated to be staged in Glasgow in April, were switched to be part of the schedule in Azerbaijan.
“It has been a good year for me so far following on from the Commonwealth Games,” she added. “It has been very busy with competitions and different events but that is what you want.
“I have picked up some medals along the way and while I can always be better I can see progression.
“Baku was always going to be a big competition but since it will double up with the European Championships it does add that little bit to it.
“It did mean that we had to change our plan slightly because the European Championships moved by three months but I was always aiming to do well so it doesn’t really change anything for me and I am just as determined to succeed regardless.”
© Sportsbeat 2015