ALEASHA Kiddle is keeping her options open as she bids for a place in Great Britain’s bobsleigh team heading to the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang next year.

Having made an impact as a brakewoman in the two-person bobsleigh since coming into the sport in 2014, the 24-year-old from Braintree has spent the 2016/17 season training to step up into the front seat as a driver and bid for a place at the 2018 Games in South Korea.

She still sees her future lying in being a driver, however, the former Braintree Athletic Club sprinter admits that her best hopes for realising her Olympic dream may be to remain as a brakewoman for now and she is pleased that she is showing the form needed to book her position.

Kiddle headed to the Bobsleigh World Championships in Kongisee as a reserve athlete and while in Germany managed to push a new personal best (PB) training time to impress the watching British coaches.

She said: “It was good to be able to go to the World Championships as a brakewoman as I have been driving this year and it was nice to see that I’m still up there as a brakewoman.

“I do have that opportunity so that if it doesn’t work for me as a driver in time for the Olympics, then I have that there still.

“I’ve been learning to drive this year and it has shown me that experience plays a huge part as well as athletic ability.

“It is challenging to break through as a driver.

“I knew there was always a risk with trying it out, but if I can continue to show that I’m competitive as an athlete and a brakewoman while doing it, then I can have the best of both worlds.

“We’ll be having our athlete reviews in a couple of weeks and it will be a chance to ask the coaches how they best see me going forward.

“I’m thinking that they might see me as more of a brakewoman for now and then after the Olympics, I can progress more as a driver.

“It’s going to be tough to qualify for the Olympics as a driver as you have to finish in the top two-thirds at a world competition and I have only done Europa Cup races so far rather than World Cup.

“I really want to carry on driving even if I can’t carry on next year as I want to take that forward into the future.

“It’s still a great opportunity for me and I don’t just want to give it up.”

Meanwhile, Kiddle wants to use her summer to hone her athletic talents and feels Joel Fearon has shown the way forward in men’s bobsleigh as well as being the UK’s number one ranked 100 metre sprinter having won the British Championships with a 9.96 second run last year.

She added: “I have started to train with a new group and they have given me more confidence with my ability so I feel I have more to give in athletics.

“I beat my PB in winning the Essex Indoor Championships (60 metre sprint), which was a big boost and I think Joel Fearon has shown that you can have a summer season on the track and then do bobsleigh at the highest level as well.

“It will raise my profile and I’m looking to compete at the British outdoor trials when I’ll be looking to make the final.

“I know it’s a big ask, but I feel I can do it.”

Kiddle said another boost had been securing sponsorship from Braintree-based company Frank Howard Tools & Fixings and she has also set up a Go Fund Me page where backers can also add their support and follow her progress towards hopefully an Olympic spot.

“Frank Howard are a local company in Braintree and I got in touch with them when I first had the opportunity to be a driver and they have been very supportive to me,” said Kiddle.

“Their help has been greatly appreciated and I will be hoping to bring back some medals the forthcoming season with their support.

“It’s lovely to get that kind of support from someone where I’m from and I’m also hoping to raise funds through a Go Fund Me page.

“It’s a way that I can post updates to let people know more about what I’m doing and how things like training are going.”

Kiddle’s Go Fund Me page can be found at www.gofundme.co.uk/aleashagb