AFTER the trials and tribulations of London 2012, when she missed out on a place in the Olympic trampoline final by one position, this summer’s Rio Games represented a significant step forward for Kat Driscoll.

She qualified for the final, cementing her status as one of the top eight trampolinists in the world. She executed her final routine impressively, posting a more than creditable score. And once the judges’ marks were tallied up, she found herself finishing in sixth position.

In any other year, the 30-year-old, who is based in West Rainton and a member of the Apollo Trampoline Club in Washington, would have been lauded as the greatest trampolinist to have emerged from these shores. The only thing altering that statement is that one of her team-mates did even better.

Bryony Page made history by becoming the first Briton to win an Olympic trampoline medal when she finished second in Rio, with her achievement immediately being hailed as a landmark moment in the development of the sport.

While Page was paraded around the television studios and sponsors’ lounges, Driscoll, the British number one for the best part of a decade, was largely ignored. What should have been her greatest sporting moment became something she was no longer sure how to assess. Two months on, and she is still being taken aback by people’s reactions.

“Even now, people are still coming up to me and saying, ‘I’m gutted for you – how are you coping?’ You’d almost think I’d fallen off the trampoline and not even made the final,” said Driscoll.

“I’m not going to lie, I wanted to go and get a medal. I wasn’t able to do that, and that’s disappointing. But the biggest thing for me was always putting London behind me and getting to an Olympic final, and I did that.

“Then, it was about executing my routine as well as I possibly could in the final, and again, I was happy with the way that went. I couldn’t have done any more, and when the results came through, I was delighted to be in the top six in the world.

“But ever since, all I’ve heard is people saying how sorry they were for me. It made me question myself. I was thinking, ‘Maybe I didn’t do as well as I thought I did? Maybe I let myself down?’ I know I didn’t though.”

Even so, how did it feel to watch Page standing on the podium receiving her silver medal, when Driscoll travelled to Rio being tipped as the British team’s likeliest medal contender?

“I know some people won’t believe this, but I honestly couldn’t have been happier,” said Driscoll. “If there had been a doubt about the scoring or a question mark about who deserved what, I might have felt different.

“But Bryony absolutely nailed her routine and she deserved to finish where she did. That meant I could just feel happy for her.

“And I also know how hard she’s worked over the whole of the last four years, just like I have. When you work and train with somebody every day, you see what it means to them and how much they’re prepared to put in. I’ve got nothing but respect for Bryony and what she did in Rio.”

But how does Driscoll feel about her team-mate receiving the plaudits when she is the one who has done so much to raise the standard and profile of British trampolining over the last decade?

For years on end, it was Driscoll trekking around the world to unglamorous competitions, racking up the ranking points that persuaded British Gymnastics to start taking trampolining more seriously and convinced UK Sport it was worth supporting the sport in order to pursue Olympic medals?

“Outside the sport, Bryony might now be the only person that people have heard of, but within trampolining and gymnastics, there’s a lot of understanding for the things I’ve done,” said Driscoll.

So what now for the North-Easterner? By the time the Tokyo Olympics begin in 2020, Driscoll will be 34. Unlike artistic gymnasts, trampolinists can compete into the mid-30s without too much trouble; the question is whether she wants to put herself through the mental and physical ordeal of another four-year cycle.

“I’ll be honest, I really don’t know,” said Driscoll. “On the one hand, I do feel like there are things I want to achieve, and the thought of getting my hands on an Olympic medal is a big incentive to keep going.

“But with everything that’s happened over the last couple of months, I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t wondered whether it was worth going through it all again. I guess I’m still getting my head around it all really and trying to deal with people’s reactions.

“I’ve also got the rest of my life to think about. I barely saw my husband for the four or five months leading up to Rio, and that’s hard. I’m not sure I could commit to being based outside the North-East for months on end.

“I’ve just started doing a bit of light training, so we’ll see how that goes. And then I’ll meet with my coaches to see what their plans are and go from there.”