ALEASHA Kiddle believes she is in the best shape possible to push forward her claims for a place in Great Britain's Olympic bobsleigh team at a crucial selection event this week.

The Braintree star has had a superb summer of honing herself on the athletics track and feels she is in a great position to press for a spot in Great Britain's team for early season action in the IBSF World Cup.

A testing event is due to be held in Bath on Monday where coaches will select the World Cup squad and Kiddle knows getting in that could be vital if she is to realise her dreams of being a part of Britain's team that will head to the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics in South Korea in February.

Kiddle said: "The World Cup season starts at the end of October and the next big one for me is GB team testing on Monday when they will pick the team for next season.

"I want to make sure I'm in it because even though it won't definitely mean you won't go to the Olympics, it would be very difficult to then get selected for the Games if you weren't involved with racing.

"The Olympic squad will be picked in January, but you want to be in there and proving yourself on the ice.

"I now want to keep progressing as I have been and showing that it's not just physical progression, but that I have the experience of racing at a high level of competition and I can keep raising my game."

Having spent last season training to be a bobsleigh driver, the 25-year-old from Braintree has put that dream on hold for now and will be looking to head to the Olympics as a brakewoman in the two-person bobsleigh.

It is a role that requires the power of a top sprint runner and Kiddle is pleased that she has been able to step up her physical conditioning on the athletics track this summer when some intense training work has paid off with personal best times and a debut international call-up for England.

Kiddle set a 100 metre personal best of 11.81 seconds in coming fifth at the England Senior Championships in July and she then helped the England team to 4x100m relay silver medals at an international meet in Manchester last month.

"It has been going well" added Kiddle.

"We had our first selection testing and it went well - I'd say the best that I have done and I feel in good shape for the winter.

"I'm really happy and the summer that I've had has given me a lot more confidence.

"I feel I've really made good physical progression this summer.

"I didn't expect it to go as well as it did as I've never competed internationally like that in sprinting and to keep getting personal bests in the 100 metres was great.

"All the training I have done has paid off and I've felt it has gone better and better.

"I think the (bobsleigh) coaches can see that and the athletics has had a direct benefit on my bobsleigh training."