THE world’s leading golfers might have turned their back on the Olympics citing fears over the Zika virus, but North-East trampolinist Kat Driscoll claims health worries were never going to prevent her from realising her dream of competing at a second Games.

Driscoll was confirmed as one of three British trampolinists selected for Rio by British Gymnastics yesterday, and having narrowly missed out on a place in the individual final at London 2012, the 30-year-old is determined to challenge for a medal next month.

Having received a series of briefings from the British Olympic Organisation’s medical team, Driscoll is fully aware of the threat posed by Zika, a virus spread by mosquitoes that can be especially dangerous during pregnancy.

But while the likes of Rory McIlory and Jordan Spieth have deemed the potential risks too high to compete, Britain’s trampoline number one insists she is more than happy to travel to Brazil.

“I’m a trampolinist, not a medical expert,” said Driscoll, who is based at West Rainton and trains with the Apollo club in Washington. “But what British Gymnastics have said all along is that the BOA have the best medical experts assessing the situation and giving advice.

“If they don’t think it’s safe, then they won’t let any of us go. They know far more about it than I do, but they’re saying it’s safe to go and that’s good enough for me. We’ve had constant updates right the way through, and never once have they said they think we shouldn’t go.

The Northern Echo:

“I’m an Olympic athlete and I’ve spent the last four years working towards this moment. That’s not to say I would go whatever, but unless someone tells me it’s so serious that I definitely shouldn’t travel, I’ll be there giving my all to get a medal. That’s why I’m in this sport.”

The contrast with golf, where the Olympics seem to be an unwelcome distraction to the more lucrative business of winning Majors, is obvious. To athletes such as Driscoll, the Olympics represent the very pinnacle of their sport, and having experienced the excitement and drama of the Games in London, the North-Easterner cannot wait to compete in Rio.

Four years ago, she narrowly failed to make it through the preliminaries as she finished in an agonising ninth position. This time around, with the experience of winning synchro world titles and major medals at the World Games and European Games under her belt, she is confident of qualifying for the Olympic final.

“I think I’m in a much better position now than I was ahead of London,” she said. “I’ve experienced competing at an Olympics already, and I think that will help. I’ve also done a lot of work off the back of London to make sure my routines are much sharper and cleaner for Rio.

“I feel like we’ve changed a lot in the last four years in terms of how my routines stack up. It was my first qualifying routine that let me down in London, and the priority at the start of this cycle was to address that and make sure it wouldn’t be the same in Rio.

“That work was done early, so it all feels very natural now. I know my routine is good enough to get me into the final, and once I’m competing in a final, I have the knowledge and experience to back myself to do well.

The Northern Echo:

“There are 16 girls competing, and realistically there are probably ten or 12 that can make it through to the final unless things go really wrong. I just have to make sure that out of those ten or 12, I’m one of the ones that make it into the top eight.”

Driscoll’s Olympic preparations suffered a blow when a back injury forced her to drop out of the final World Cup event in Italy. She recovered in time to compete in the British Championships, but a lack of preparation time meant she could only finish in third position.

Given that she was only really training at half-strength, that was still a decent finish, and by the time she travels to Rio at the start of next month, she will be back to full tilt.

“Obviously I would like to have done better at the British Champs, but the main thing there was just getting back into competitions and proving there were no lingering effects from the back problem,” she said. “I wouldn’t say I’m completely pain free, but then I can’t really remember the last time I was.

“The rehab sessions have all gone well, and I’m happy with the way I’ve been able to step up my training. We’ve got a training camp in Portugal coming up later this month, and then it’s off to Rio.”

The Olympic trampolining event takes place on Friday, August 12, with the final following a couple of hours after the completion of the preliminaries.

Unlike in London, where Driscoll was the only British trampolinist competing, she will be joined by team-mate Bryony Page in Rio, and she is happy to have a domestic rival pushing her on.

“There’s real strength in depth in the sport at the moment, and that’s a really good thing,” she said. “Both myself and Bryony have had to work really hard just to make the team, so hopefully that will stand us in good stead in Rio.

“The whole of the squad is based at Lilleshall now, and I think that’s helped because you see your team-mates every day and when you see that they’re improving, it makes you want to push yourself even harder to stay ahead.

“Bryony is definitely capable of making the final, so to have two of us in that position, it’s great for British trampolining. Hopefully, we can both do ourselves justice out in Rio.”