Continue
Double World Champion Helen Jenkins suffered a disappointing London 2012 but has already set her sights on a change of fortunes at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio.
Jenkins, from Bridgend in Wales, had been tipped for a place in the medals at London 2012 but a knee injury meant that she was forced to settle for a fifth place finish.
The 28 year old now has all her focus on completing her rehabilitation before competing at the Commonwealth Games next year but admits she has one eye on the 2016 Rio Olympics, “I have a bit of unfinished business with the Olympics after London 2012.
“I definitely want to race again and it would be amazing to do so but at the moment I'm getting my injury and rehab right, then getting back to racing.”
The knee injury that Jenkins fought on with through the Triathlon event in Hyde Park last summer represents the ups and downs that she has contended with during her career.
Jenkins revealed that she aims to keep improving as she spoke about the Asics 'Journey of Improvement' campaign, “The journey of improvement is so relevant to me because I have had numerous setbacks in my career and it's tough.
“It can relate to a number of athletes because you have to keep trying to improve and for me it is about trying to be better than I am and getting back from injury.”
Although she is keen to point out her former coach aided her success, Jenkins is one of a few athletes whose partner is her coach and sees no need to change a winning formula.
“It works well for us, he started coaching me a few years ago because I had fallen out with my coach. Mark said he would coach me for an interim period until I found another coach, but it started working really well and continued with it. It seemed stupid to change when it's successful.”
If Jenkins does manage to stay injury free she will represent both Wales and Team GB in the coming years, and although she has a sense of pride representing both, she admits that there is something extra special about being able to compete for Wales.
“The Welsh team is a little smaller and I really enjoy it, but so is being involved in Team GB but it's nice representing your Home Nation because we can't do it that often and when you're a child you have Welsh Schools competitions so it's fun to represent the Home Nation.”
British triathlete, Helen Jenkins is an ambassador for sports performance brand ASICS. To view the new ‘Journey of Improvement’ video, please visit;
