A photographer who hadn’t snapped any sporting events until the London 2012 Olympic Games is set to make his name in Rio de Janeiro this summer.

David Pearce started photographing triathlon competitions four years ago and subsequently secured a place to cover last year’s Tour de France, where his work was praised by British winner Chris Froome.

Inspired by major sporting tournaments, Mr Pearce, of Granary Close, Grove Green, pleaded with Olympic officials for accreditation to cover Team GB at this summer’s games in Brazil.

His application was initially refused as there weren’t enough passes, but the 43-year-old appealed and was successful on his second attempt.

He had previously only done corporate and wedding shoots after leaving his job as a wine merchant 10 years ago.

Mr Pearce said he was losing control of his weight and doctors warned he was obese and had to change his lifestyle. Weighing 16-and-a-half stone, he signed up to Channel 4’s Fit Farm where he lost four stone in 12 weeks.

Now weighing 10 stone, he said seeing athletes succeed enthused him to change his life.

He said: “The greatest thing about photographing sport events is seeing the athletes as they cross the line. They look so happy and have such a sense of achievement.

“I knew I needed to change my life and working with such inspirational people helped with that.”

The freelancer, who is also a member of the Maidstone Harriers running group, has permission to photograph all sports at the Rio 2016 Olympics and Paralympics.

He hopes his photos will be sold to newspapers and television channels around the world.

Mr Pearce said: “It uses a very different set of skills compared to normal photography – you only have one chance to get that shot that everyone wants.

“I can’t wait to get out there and be amongst the thousands of spectators and photo and video journalists.”

The games begin on August 5.

10 facts about the games

1. Rio won its bid in 2009 and is the first South American country to host the games
2. Around 10,500 athletes from 206 countries will take part in 17 days of sporting action
3. There are 7.5m tickets, with prices ranging from £28 to £2,100
4. Organisers will prepare 60,000 meals per day to feed the athletes
5. Around 85,000 soldiers and policemen will be deployed – twice as big as the security presence at London 2012
6. Rio’s taxi drivers, or ‘taxistas,’ are being given English lessons to prepare them for the influx of visitors
7. The opening ceremony will be held in Rio’s Maracanãcorr Stadium and is expected to be watched by 78,000 people
8. Beach volleyball will be played on the world-famous Copacabana beach
9. Golf will return to the games after a 112-year absence
10. The games will be the first to feature Olympians born in the year 2000