Road To Rio: Olympic hopes for 2015 as the Rio Games draw near

KAT COPELAND (Stokesley, Rowing)

The Rio Olympics certainly feel like they’re getting closer, and although nothing will be decided this year in terms of Olympic selection, my main aim for 2015 will be to end the year knowing I’m in a position where I can look ahead to Rio with a realistic hope of doing well.

That means doing two things. First, I need to make sure I’m in the boat (lightweight double) all the way through the season and that means doing well at the trials in February and April. We’re just about to leave for a training camp in Portugal, and that’ll be important in terms of setting ourselves up for the season.

The make-up of the boat is still to be decided, but hopefully I’ll be in it and attention will then switch towards the World Championships at the end of the summer. They’re really important because they’re the main event for qualification for the Olympics.

We have to finish in the top nine in our event to make sure we qualify a place for Britain in Rio, but after missing out on the World Championships final last year, I’m really keen to at least make it to the final this time. It would obviously be great to win a medal, but the more important thing is knowing we’re in a good place at the start of Olympic year.

KAT DRISCOLL (West Rainton, Trampolining)

I missed the first half of last year through injury, so the main thing for the first half of this year is to make sure everything has healed properly and my ankle can stand up to the training and competitions. It’s been so far, so good, and I’m really pleased with the recovery.

It’s going to be a strange year because I don’t really have any competitions until June, so the first half of the year will all be about training as hard as possible and trying out a few different things on the trampoline.

Things get pretty hectic from the summer, and the World Championships in November are massive because they’re the main event in terms of qualifying for the Olympics. If you’re one of the eight girls who make the final at the Worlds, then your country gets a guaranteed Olympic place.

We qualified one place for London, which I obviously took, but the hope this time around is that we can get two places for Rio. I’ve made the final at the last three World Championships, so hopefully I’ll maintain that record this year.

CHRIS TOMLINSON (Middlesbrough, Athletics)

Life’s a bit different for me now I’m not on central funding, so this will be the first year where I’ve had to combine my athletics career with some other ventures. I’ll be doing some personal training, and I’m also going to be part of a new boot camp that’ll be starting at Trinity School in Middlesbrough on every Monday from the start of the month.

None of that makes me any less determined to succeed with my athletics career though, and the main target for the year has to be the World Championships towards the end of the summer. That’s what the season will be geared towards.

Although I’ve been jumping in the 8.20s, the last couple of years haven’t really gone as I would have liked. I haven’t quite been able to kick my performances on as I would have wanted to, so I’ve changed a few things in training this winter and they seem to be having a positive effect.

I’m a different person now to who I was when I started my career – I’ve got a family and two young kids to think about for a start – and just as Jo Pavey said her changed circumstances gave her a new perspective on athletics, the same is true for me. I’ll be competing indoors in Glasgow at the end of the month, and that’ll give me a chance to assess where I’m at.

AIMEE WILLMOTT (Middlesbrough, Swimming)

Last year was a big change for me with the switch down to London and a complete change of training base, so I’m still getting used to all of that a bit. It was tough at first, but it’s getting easier and I’m feeling more settled.

Our big event this year is the World Championships in Russia in August, and the trials for that are in April so the first half of the year will all be about preparing for those. I’m due to compete in Belgium at the end of this month, and that’ll be a first chance to see where I’m at.

Next year’s trials will be the big ones in terms of qualifying for the Olympics, but this year it’s going to be important to put in some good performances at the Worlds to show I can do the qualifying times and prove I can do well in Rio.

I’m training in the Olympic pool in London now, and it still gives me goosebumps whenever I come in for a session and see all the sights that were part of London 2012. I miss living in the North-East, but it’s inspiring to have all the Olympic memories flooding back every day.

KATY McLEAN (South Shields, Rugby Union)

It’s going to be an exciting year. I was lucky enough to get a professional contract after last year’s World Cup win, and although that’s meant a lot of changes to my life, it’s given me a chance to hopefully take my rugby career to another level.

As a team, we’ve got two main focuses this year. The first is the Six Nations, and given that we’re going into the tournament as world champions, it’s important we do everything we can to live up to our billing. It’s a bit of a new-look team, but we’re confident we can do well.

The other big priority for the year is sevens, with half an eye obviously on next year’s Olympics, which will feature sevens for the first time.

We’re going to be playing a lot of sevens rugby this year and by the end of the World Seven Series, the top four teams will be guaranteed an Olympic place. Hopefully, we’ll be one of those.