Kat Driscoll hopes to move a step closer to the Olympics when she competes at test event on Friday.
GB trampoline star hoping for London 2012 berth
Kat Driscoll hopes to propel herself one step closer to the Olympic Games when she competes at the London Prepares test event on Friday.
The British trampoline champion secured a place in the event for Great Britain at London 2012 after she finished in the top eight at the 2011 World Trampolining Championships in Birmingham last November.
However, it has not been decided which gymnast will fill that crucial spot, and the 25-year-old, who trains at the Apollo trampolining club in Washington, is ready to stake her claim.
"It's a really big competition for me," Driscoll told the
Northern Echo. "There are four events that score towards the Olympics, and the selectors will choose the best two preliminary scores and the best two scores from a final.
"I was the only Brit to make the finals of the worlds, so I'm the only one with a finals score to their name at the minute.
"I'm the only Brit in the test event because each country is only able to nominate one competitor, so if I could make the final of the test event as well, that would make it two from two.
Massive
"There's only two events left after that, so there would be massive pressure on anyone wanting to catch me because they'd have to make both finals and then perform really strongly in them.
"The pressure would be off me a little bit, so hopefully I'd be able to relax and do well there anyway."
Driscoll will be up against former world champion Li Dan and He Wenna of China and Canada's Rosannagh MacLennan, who all finished on the podium at the World Championships, and says she will use the opportunity to perform the routine she has designed for the Olympics.
"A lot of research has gone into drawing up the routine, but I'm pleased with how it's looking," she said. "You don't get a lot of opportunities to do it in a competition, so this is really too good an opportunity to waste.
"I've been going through various elements of it in training. Some people opt to go for a really difficult routine and hope they nail it - others go a little bit easier to cut down the risk of an error. Which way have I gone? You'll just have to wait and see!"
In the men's competition, double world champion Dong Dong and reigning Olympic champion Lu Chunlong will be looking to repeat their podium finish at last year's World Championships.
There is no British interest in the men's competition as GB did not qualify a place at the World Championships and missed out on sending a gymnast to the test event for a chance at second qualification.
