Mick Jones is determined to end 16 years of suffering in Athens this summer.

A combination of bad luck and bad timing has meant the Crawley-based hammer thrower has missed the last three Olympic Games after making his bow in Seoul in 1988.

Back then, the 25-year-old Jones assumed he would have plenty more chances to improve on his 22nd place in South Korea.

Now approaching his 41st birthday, Jones knows he is probably facing his last shot at a second appearance in the biggest sporting event on the planet.

Jones, who lives in Ifield, said: "There is no way I am going to miss the Olympics this year, I just won't let it happen again.

"It is a long time since Seoul and you could say I've got some unfinished business.

"After missing out on Los Angeles in 1984, I thought Seoul would be the start of my Olympic experience but for a variety of reasons it has not worked out that way.

"Three times I have been just a few centimetres short of the qualifying distance and four years ago I threw far enough to go to Sydney but was told I had missed the deadline.

"It still hurts that I have appeared at only one Olympics so I am chomping at the bit to get back there. Competing in the Olympics is what every athlete aspires to and the fact they are in Athens this year, where the whole thing began, makes me even more determined."

A few weeks ago Jones' Olympic dream looked like mission impossible.

The A qualifying distance was more than three metres further than his personal best at a massive 79.50m and the B mark was a daunting 75.50m, a distance he has achieved just twice.

Now he has fresh hope after the B standard, which would be enough to book his ticket to Greece, was lowered to 74.35m, well within the range of the reigning Commonwealth champion who opened his season with 70.14m at the Crawley Open Meeting on Saturday.

The Sussex record holder said: "I have thrown over 74 metres 11 times so it is not somewhere I haven't been before.

"The initial qualifying mark represented a barrier but I am confident now. Everything I do this season is geared towards achieving that distance."