Having to pick yourself up off the floor is an occupational hazard in judo, which the Japanese, who invented the art of throwing someone else's weight around, like to call "the gentle way'", though in essence it is anything but.

In Britain, the sport has had more than its share of rough and tumbles, on the mat and off, but it now seems to be getting to grips with itself again after the disappointments of the last two Olympics.

Bringing the elite competitors together under one roof in Dartford in a new, £5 million ($8 million) centralised performance institute has coincided with an instant surge in results - a fistful of gold medals in World Cup events and a World Championship silver for veteran heavyweight Karina Bryant.

The sport had targeted two medals in China but failed to reach the podium.

However, UK Sport rewarded promising results at junior and senior European and World level and didn't cut their funding, awarding them a 9.9 per cent increase in a bid to reverse their fortunes.

GB also showed strength in depth by winning nine medals at the recent British Open, finishing third on the medal table behind judo powerhouse France and the Netherlands.

Bryant won bronze at this year's European Championships while Euan Burton also finished third at the same event

So there is an upbeat tempo again about a sport which has produced 16 Olympic medals for Britain since it was introduced into the Games in 1964 - though none have been gold.

However, there is a realistic hope that a nugget or two will be unearthed at 2012.

Let's hope, too, that Sam Lowe is among them.

For hers is a an uplifting tale in days when so many elite performers are pampered and well-provided for, cushioned by ample Lottery funding which means they can concentrate on being full time athletes supported by the best equipment, coaching and substantial sponsorship.

They need to do nothing but work at achieving their goal.

Good for them.

But for every Jessica Ennis, Paula Radcliffe and Chris Hoy there is a Sam Lowe equally determined to go for gold but without the supportive wherewithal to fulfil their dream.

I encountered Sam recently at the Excel Leisure Complex in Walton-on-Thames, Surrey, where, to earn a few bob to help her along the road to 2012, she was spending the evening giving a coaching class to a group young judo aspirants.

Despite being one of Britain's most outstanding judo players as a Commonwealth Games champion – and the only one in her under 78kg weight category with any chance of qualifying for the Olympics - 29-year-old Sam has no funding and is struggling to make ends meet.

She explains: "I have had terrible injury problems over the last year and because of this I have not performed at the right level to keep my standing and so have lost my funding."

But what she has not lost is heart, drive or ambition.

Instead of simply giving up, or bemoaning her lot, as so many athletes in her situation might, she is doing something about it.

She has contacted all the judo clubs in southern England, offering personalised coaching classes, demos and motivational talks.

She is also actively seeking sponsorship.

As she says: "Anyone in judo will tell you how expensive training and travelling can be on top of the cost of everyday living.

"Every penny really does count.

"Anything I can earn, however small, will help me towards the cost of being a full-time athlete which you need to be to get to the Olympics."

Sam, who won her Commonwealth Games gold in Manchester in 2002, the last time judo was included in the event, lives and trains at the famed Camberley Judo "factory" in Surrey which has produced a host of champions, including Karina Bryant.

She has a part time job in the reservations department of a hotel but says that it is difficult to do more than eight hours because of her training commitments.

"I earn £60 ($98) a week, which gives me a bit of pocket money but not enough to live on," Sam commented.

"I am not quibbling about losing the funding.

"I haven't been performing because of my injuries, so fair enough.

"Judo can put one person forward in each weight category for the Olympics and in mine I am really the only competitor available.

"It is a unique situation as I don't really have any rivals in Britain, but they can't select me if I don't attain the required standard.

"Realistically it is going to be me or no one, so I am doing quite a lot of work to raise sponsorship and unbelievably people are just donating money to help me when they read about me on Twitter.

"Some are giving £10 ($16) and that's a lot of money to me.

"I do a lot of networking and giving motivational speeches.

"I really don't have any choice but to use my initiative to raise the money if I want to get to the Olympics."

Judo is an activity where virtually no holds are barred, including the stranglehold, which, as Lord Sebastian Coe will testify, renders you unconscious rather quickly.

Coe's regular judo sparring partner was the Foreign Secretary and former Tory leader William Hague.

Sam has never had anyone quite as illustrious as Coe falling at her feet but there were are some beefy blokes hurtling over her shoulder as she demonstrated her seoi-nages and harai-goshis at her masterclass at Adrian Pearman's popular Torai-kai Judo Club in Walton.

Sam may not have the clout of David Haye, but she could probably put him on his back quicker than you can say ippon - judo-speak for a knockout.

However her resilience is being truly tested at the moment.

For after fighting back from an assortment of injuries which have included a fractured collar bone last week she underwent an operation to repair snapped knee ligaments.

This knee will keep her out of competition until December but the British Judo Association have guaranteed her access to top level events when she returns in order for her to try for Olympic qualification.

Though the rub here is that she has to pay her own entry fees, around £400 ($654)  a throw, so to speak. She estimates that should she get to London it will have cost her at least £8,000 ($13,000).

So, you see that for some Olympic wannabes, sport is by no means a land of milk and money.

The team will be named in May.

"I am very determined to get there, as this is probably my last chance at an Olympics," says Sam.

"But I'm so frustrated with these injuries.

"However these things have happened and I have got to deal with it in the best way I can.

"Being out of action like this is horrible.

"You really miss judo when you can't do it.

"OK, you can do theory, but it's not the same.

"It's worse for me because I am an active person and hate sitting still."

When things go wrong in judo it is not difficult to end up sitting on your backside but Sam has determinedly picked herself up to fight the odds.

I have a hunch that Britain may have peaked in Beijing in the gold-and-glory sports like cycling, rowing and swimming and it is the contact sports that will be pushing towards the London podium, notably boxing and taekwondo, both of which have had some sparkling results in international competition this year.

Hopefully judo too.

And if you would like to see Sam Lowe's go-it-alone endeavours rewarded, and have any ideas that might assist this worthy athlete realise her Olympic dream, she'd be happy to hear from you at [email protected].

So with a bit of luck, and a little help from her friends, 2012 can still be a case of play it again, Sam.

Alan Hubbard is an award-winning sports columnist for The Independent on Sunday, and a former sports editor of The Observer. He has covered a total of 16 Summer and Winter Olympics, 10 Commonwealth Games, several football World Cups and world title fights from Atlanta to Zaire.