James desperate to be on the plane to Rio

The Welsh cyclist missed out on London 2012 after having surgery on her appendix before bouncing back by winning the sprint and keirin titles at the 2013 World Championships.

But since then her career has been disrupted by a combination of a health scare and then shoulder and knee injuries, with the 24-year-old only returning to action in August.

She is in the Great Britain team for the Track World Cup in New Zealand this weekend, and with the chance to show what she can do on the international stage once more, James admits she already has one eye on next year.

"I really, really, really want to go to Rio," she told BBC Wales Today.

"It's been a hard cycle missing out on London and on Glasgow, so all this hard work has got to be worth it. I'm really hoping to be there whatever the event.

"The nationals were only three weeks ago and obviously I'm looking forward to being back in the World Cup.

"It's been a hard ride. When I look back at where I was this time last year I would not have seen myself racing again now because it was really tough and I couldn't imagine myself being back in it.

"I've gone through the hard phase of training and getting into shape and feeling like a bike rider again.

"I'm feeling like my old self again and looking forward to racing again.

"I know the rest of the world has moved on so that's going to be a hard thing for me because I just don't have to get back to where I was being a double world champion, I need to be better than that and I know there is a lot of hard work to do so this is a starting point."

Sportsbeat 2015