Lisa Dobriskey made the 1500m final at the Olympic trials as she completes her return.
After overcoming illness Brit now targeting Olympic spot
Former world silver medallist Lisa Dobriskey was delighted to reach the final of the 1500 metres at the Olympic trials after overcoming a life-threatening illness.
Dobriskey, who won gold at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne and silver at the 2009 World Championships in Berlin, revealed recently she has been suffering with blood clots on her lungs.
The result of the clots was a vastly-reduced lung capacity, a problem which was picked up by hospital scans after Dobriskey had reported problems breathing at the end of training sessions.
"It's been really stressful but I'm kind of looking at it now and I'm so grateful to be able to run again," the 28-year-old from Kent said after winning her heat in Birmingham.
"I was told by a specialist that that was it, just give up and take six months off, you won't be able to run. I'm looking at this as such a bonus and I'm so grateful to be back.
Scan
"The last scan showed minimal blood clots but the big artery that was blocked has cleared completely. The human body is amazing because they said it would take a long time to recover. Hopefully I can prove my form in time and be in that team.
"I think I've got enough time to play with. It's not been a smooth ride but I've made massive, massive progress in such a short period of time. I believe I can do it, it's just whether they select me."
The top two in Sunday's final will be selected for the Olympics if they have a current 'A' standard time, but Dobriskey does not have that time and will only have until July 1 to do so.
The honour of being the first athlete this weekend to seal their place on the Olympic team fell to Sophie Hitchon in the women's hammer.
Hitchon, 20, had already achieved the 'A' standard of 71.50m and therefore needed to finish in the top two here to make certain of being in London, something she achieved comfortably with victory and a best throw of 69.79m.
Jessica Ennis had earlier won the high jump title with an outdoor season's best of 1.89m, with the Sheffield athlete then going on to qualify impressively for this evening's final of the 100m hurdles.
