SHE might have cemented her status as British trampolining’s greatest ever medal winner when she claimed a team bronze at last week’s World Championships, but Kat Driscoll is still unsure about whether she wants to attempt to add to her tally at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.

Driscoll teamed up with Laura Gallagher and Izzy Songhurst to finish third in the team final in Sofia, securing the fifth World Championship medal of her career. She has also claimed eight senior European medals as well as titles at both the World Games and European Games, making her the most decorated British trampolinist by some distance.

Her individual campaign at the World Championships ended in the semi-finals, but by qualifying in fifth from the prelims, the 31-year-old proved she has lost none of her ability despite the lengthy injury lay-off that followed her appearance in the final of the 2016 Olympics in Rio.

This time last year, she was seriously considering retiring, but her performances in Bulgaria thoroughly vindicated her decision to continue competing.

They also led to renewed questions about her plans for the next two-and-a-half years, with thoughts already turning to the next Olympics. At this stage, she remains reluctant to commit to training through to Tokyo, as having competed at two Games, she does not want to work towards a third if she does not have a realistic chance of claiming a medal.

However, after last week’s results confirmed her continued ability to compete at the highest level, she admits another Olympic appearance has become slightly more likely.

“It’s not a yes yet, but it’s not definitely not a no,” said Driscoll, who is based at West Rainton and a member of Apollo Trampoline Club in Washington. “I need to be very careful with the decision I make because I’m basically committing the next two years of my life to something and I need to know it’s right.

“The injury was hard, especially with it coming straight after the Olympics. I wanted to get back, but I also needed to know that I still had my drive and enjoyment for the sport, and that I’m also still capable of competing at the top level.

“I’ve been to two Olympics now, and they’ve been great experiences. I don’t feel like I have to tick that box anymore. If I’m going to go to Tokyo, I need to know I’ll be going there to compete for a medal. I don’t want to be going just to be able to say, ‘Wow, here I am at another Olympics, isn’t this great’.

“It was great getting the team medal at the Worlds, and although my semi in the individual was a write-off, my qualifying in the prelims was the best I’ve ever done. It was a personal best score, so that shows I’m still improving.

“Also, at the Worlds, one of my real idols (Belarussian Tatsiana Piatrenia) won her first World Championship gold, and she’s 36. If she can do that at that age, there’s no reason why I can’t.”

Driscoll proved she can still handle the pressure of intense competition as she delivered the routine that secured Britain’s team bronze in the final.

Heading into the final round, the fight for third place had developed into a head-to-head battle between Britain and Japan. Driscoll was jumping last, and with the British team only featuring three competitors instead of four, which meant they did not have a discard score, she knew there was no margin for error.

“I knew it had to be clean,” she said. “We had a 0.4-point lead over Japan, so I knew I couldn’t afford to make any mistakes. My routine wasn’t perfect, but it was okay. My score was slightly lower than the prelims, but I knew it gave us a chance.

“It was beatable, but I knew the Japanese girl would have to be pretty much perfect to make up the gap. We watched her routine, but we were end on to the trampoline and that makes it really hard to judge exactly what’s going on.

“We thought we had a chance, and then when the score came up, she was actually 0.2 points lower than me so we beat them by a decent margin in the end.”

Having finished her competition, Driscoll remained in Sofia as part of the British team’s support staff, assisting the youngsters who were competing in age-group finals along with her husband, and senior British coach, Gary Short. That meant she was able to keep a close eye on Isak Cornelissen and Isabelle Garnham, her Apollo team-mates who were making their debuts at World level.

“Isak did a PB on his first routine, and if he’d just done a normal routine on his second, he’d have made the final,” said Driscoll. “Unfortunately, it went a bit wrong for him, but it’s great experience given he’s only 12.

“Isabelle finished 21st overall and couldn’t have jumped any better. It was her first major competition for GB, so we were really pleased with her. She’s only 13, and she could go really far.”