• London 2012 Olympics

I still have more to give - Ohuruogu

Christine Ohuruogu just wants to run healthy © Getty Images

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After two years of injury, 400m Olympic champion Christine Ohuruogu says she has unfinished business on the track, though she admits her main priority is making it to London 2012 "in one piece".

The 27-year-old has failed to regain her form of four years ago, when she won gold in Beijing, and has seen her career derailed in recent times by a string of injuries. Ohuruogu, who boasts a season's best of 51.49s, will feature in this weekend's UK trials in a bid to qualify for next month's World Athletics Championships in Korea.

Despite her struggles over the last couple of years, the Brit is in determined mood, insisting she has plenty more to give. She told the Daily Telegraph: "I never thought of walking away. Sometimes you do question yourself 'why do I do it, why do I bother continuing?' but, truly, I don't think I'd ever really taken those sort of thoughts seriously.

"I put myself through it all again because I really enjoy what I do. Athletics is hard but it's the only way I feel that I've really been challenged in my life. I love athletics. Every time I go out there, pushing myself as hard as I can, nothing gives me greater joy.

"This is why I keep doing what I do. If I was just satisfied with winning in Beijing I'd probably have retired a long time ago and saved myself a lot of heartache and hassle. It maybe would have been a lot easier on my down days to say 'oh forget it' if the Olympics hadn't been coming to London but, to be honest, I still think I would have continued. There's a lot more I need to do before I can finally close the lid on the 400 metres."

Ohuruogu's joy of running may be the drive that has kept her going through the difficult periods of her career but the thought of appearing at a home Olympics has also been key in keeping her hungry.

"I'm not just another athlete wanting to compete in 2012; that's my home, that's my community, that's where I grew up, where my family live," she said. "I've had a good lesson in the last four years that nothing is ever guaranteed. I thought I'd come off Beijing and everything would be great and rosy and it wasn't. So I'm not going to go and put a medal round my neck because I don't think that would be a very good attitude. But, God willing, the most important thing is that I make it there in one piece."

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