The Doncaster man is one of three players who competed in Athens four years ago chosen again for the 16-strong men's hockey squad for this summer's Olympics.

Middleton is one of the more experienced players among Jason Lee's squad, having earned more than 60 caps for Great Britain and a further 100 for England.

He is rapidly approaching 50 international goals, five of which came in qualifying for this year's Games.

Lee said: "We have a lot of players who can play in many different positions, such as Barry Middleton, which is useful in order to change tactics and cover injuries within a game.

"The playing group have limited Olympic experience, with only three of them having appeared at an Olympic Games before, Barry being one of them, but this group have repeatedly shown that they are able to cope with new and challenging environments, so I have no fear that they may wilt under the Olympic spotlight."

Middleton helped Great Britain to a ninth-place finish in Athens and has also represented his country in a World Cup, a Commonwealth Games and three European Championships.

On a busy day of Olympic selections, Great Britain will take eight boxers to Beijing, all of whom train at Sheffield's English Institute of Sport.

The team selected is: Khalid Yafai (flyweight -51kg), Joe Murray (bantamweight -54kg), Frankie Gavin (lightweight -60kg), Bradley Saunders (light welterweight -64kg), Billy Joe Saunders (welterweight -69kg), James DeGale (middleweight -75kg), Tony Jeffries (light Heavyweight -80kg) and David Price (super heavyweight +91kg).

GB boxing coach Terry Edwards, who guided Audley Harrison to a gold medal in Sydney and Amir Khan to silver four years ago, said: "I'm heading to Beijing with eight boxers which in my experience are the most talented team of GB boxers in recent years to compete at the Olympic Games.

"My expectations are high and I believe that we can deliver some great performances and if they box to their potential, convert these performances to medals."

The absence of equestrian hope Ellen Whitaker from Team GB was confirmed yesterday following the injury sustained to her horse Locarno in Rotterdam at the weekend.

Her uncles, Huddersfield's John Whitaker on Peppermill and brother Michael on Suncal Portofino 63, have been chosen for the jumping team.

Andy Hodge and Debbie Flood are set to be named in Great Britain's rowing team at a press conference in Caversham, Berkshire today.

Skipton-born Hodge is one of the pivotal rowers in the men's four while Harrogate's Flood was a silver medallist in Athens.

For more on these stories visit www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/
olympics.