Four British stars including three London 2012 Olympians have set off for a round the world trip to compete at the Apia World Cup in Samoa and the Qingdao Grand Prix in China over the next fortnight.

Olympians Ashley McKenzie, Colin Oates and Gemma Howell are joined by Tom Davis who is ranked British number one at -81kg and won three successive World Cup bronze medals this summer. The quartet will be joined by British Judo Support Coach and newly-promoted 5th Dan Luke Preston.

The group will land in Apia on Tuesday night after two days of travelling ready to compete in the World Cup this weekend.

They will travel 32,640 miles across three continents before returning on 26 November having spent 56 hours and 25 minutes in the air.

Flight schedule:

Heathrow -> Beijing

Beijing -> Sydney

Sydney -> Nadi (Fiji)

Nadi (Fiji) -> Faleola (Apia) – Fight at 2012 Apia World Cup

Faleola (Apia) -> Sydney

Sydney ->: Beijing

Beijing -> Qingdao – Fight at 2012 Qingdao Grand Prix

Qingdao -> Beijing

Beijing -> Heathrow

British Judo Performance Logistics Manager John Bramall, who has guided the Performance team through five Olympic and Paralympic Games, described the trip as one of the most complex he’s arranged.

“Combining two events into one trip is always challenging, even more so in this case due to the extreme distances being covered by the team,” he said.

“Identifying the best possible flight itinerary is crucial so the team arrive in time for event registrations and in good condition to compete, whilst also needing to keep one eye on the costs involved.”

For daily updates follow Luke Preston on twitter at www.twitter.com/LukePreston_CJC