HELEN JEWELL is facing a race against time to be fit for the London Olympics as she continues to recover from injury that left her sidelined for three months.

The former Ivybridge Community College student underwent surgery on her shoulder in September and says she is slowly returning to fitness.

But it remains a gradual process for Jewell, who is confident she can lift the qualification weight needed to make the British weightlifting squad.

With the Olympics getting underway in less than six months, Jewell is confident she can return to full fitness in time for them.

Jewell gets her first chance to test the shoulder at the British Championships which start a week today.

The 22-year old is not fazed and keen to take one performance at a time.

She said: "The British Championships are just a week away and my coach was unsure at first whether I should compete or not.

"But I thought it would be good to just get back up on the platform.

"I'm not going to be lifting my maximum but it's going to be a step closer to gaining qualification for London."

Jewell will need to lift 196kg in a combination of snatch and clean and jerk in order to qualify for London.

She said: "The shoulder is really good now. I had surgery at the end of September and it is progressing well.

"Touch wood, I've had no problems with it so far.

"The only downside at the moment is I'm struggling with my elbow. It's giving me a bit of a problem, especially when I snatch.

"But I've had a cortisone injection to allow me to train more without the pain.

"When I initially hurt my shoulder I thought my Olympics would be over, especially when they told me I had to have surgery.

"But the rehab is going really well and it's just good to be back up on the platform."

Jewell is hoping she can progress quickly enough through the gears before the Olympics.

She said: "With the way things are going at the moment and where I am post-injury, I'm guessing I will be lifting around 70kg in the snatch and 90kg in the clean and jerk.

"I have to be realistic. I've just come back from an injury that required surgery so I'm not going to be back to my best straight away.

"I know I can lift the required weight. I've lifted it before. I just need to put lots of work in now right up until May when the squad is selected."

Jewell has stepped up her training regime, which has meant the Cardiff University graduate has had to give up her job as a physiotherapist temporarily in order to give maximum effort in gaining qualification for the summer Games.

"Obviously at the moment it's not looking great, but I believe I can make it," Jewell said.

"It isn't going to be easy. I think if I made the Olympics it would be an achievement in itself.

"To compete at London would just be phenomenal – words couldn't describe it.

"To do it in your home nation in front of family and friends would be a dream come true.

"I'm putting everything into getting there. I've given up my job so I can have more time training and regaining my fitness. It's allowing me to spend more time in the gym, and I'm doing lots of cardio and core stuff to get my body in the best possible shape on top of my lifting regime."

Jewell knows injuries better than most, but believes having knowledge of the body as an athlete can be useful but also a hindrance.

She said: "I think the fact I'm a physiotherapist and an athlete who's injured at the moment has it's good and bad points.

"Obviously, I know my injury well and I have an understanding of the problem I had. But, on the other side, I look into it too closely.

"I'm looking for minor details like the alignment of my body and tiny things like that.

"I know when to push my body and when to rest it, but as an athlete trying to qualify for the Olympics I want to push myself anyway."