Ahead of her World Triathlon Series return in New Zealand this weekend, Helen Jenkins admits she considered retiring from the sport during an 18-month absence.
The 30-year-old has considerable pedigree in the sport of triathlon, winning the world title in 2008 and 2011 as well as finishing fifth at London 2012.
However her London Olympics could have been so much more if her build-up had not been hampered by a knee injury.
The problem escalated after the Games and Jenkins was diagnosed with a compressed disc in her back which forced her to miss the whole of 2013.
However on Sunday she will make her World Series return in Auckland – having finished fourth in the New Plymouth World Cup last month – and Jenkins revealed she almost let injuries get the better of her.
“Retirement came into my head but a small part of you won’t let you give up,” said Jenkins.
“It would have been good to have that diagnosis pre-Olympics because we could have numbed the pain for the Games and then got it sorted out straight away.
“Coming fifth at the Games took a lot for me, mentally. If the crowd weren’t there, I would have come 25th. Looking back now, I’m proud of what I did.
“I really enjoyed the race [in New Zealand last month] and there’s relief that the first hurdle is out of the way.
“I wasn’t sure what to expect and that was half of the nerves. I just felt rusty.
“For the last few years, every race I’ve gone into I was aiming for the win. It’s very different to go in thinking ‘let’s just see what happens’.”
© Sportsbeat 2014