Chemmy Alcott admits the imminent Alpine World Ski Championships in Austria will mark the first real test of how far she has come in her recovery from a broken leg.
The 30-year-old suffered a compound fracture of her right leg in final practice for the opening downhill race of the World Cup season in Lake Louise, Canada in December 2010.
The injury forced the three-time Olympian to miss the entire season as well as the following one however she is back and ready for her first World Championships since.
She made her competitive return in none other than Lake Louise in late November finishing 25th in the downhill and is determined to earn selection for her fourth Olympics in Sochi next year.
Alcott has decided to pick and choose which World Cup events she competes in this season while peaking for the World Championships, which she admits are a true performance indicator.
“The World Championships are the first real indicator of how I am performing,” said Alcott, who will begin her campaign in Schladming in the Super G and is expected to compete in the downhill and giant slalom as well.
“I have gone a slightly different route this season and where I usually peak at the beginning and at the end I have aimed to peak at the beginning of February because that is the time I will need to peak next year.
“I have had two years out coming back from a horrible injury but I have been scoring World Cup points and my first race back was where I had my crash so that was a big indicator.
“The injury was so horrific but I had so much passion to ski fast again and go to another Olympics. I have always loved skiing and I missed it so much after two years out.
“I wanted to get back to what I loved doing and it is great to be back. We race in all these historic places but the worlds are in a relatively new place, the girls have only raced there once recently and it is one for the chancers.”
© Sportsbeat 2013