Bryony Shaw’s confirmed she is already preparing to race for gold at the sunny shorelines of Rio 2016.

The windsurfer, who lives in Tunbridge Wells, missed out on a medal last summer at the Olympics after an illness meant her training was interrupted for months.

Now, the 30-year-old, who was one of the first athletes to be confirmed in the Team GB squad for London 2012 is back and packing her bags ahead of trying out Brazil’s 2016 Olympic venue next month.

The Kent athlete who won silver at the World Championship earlier this year said she was already looking forward to getting on the water.

“I’m going to go and check it all out in Rio to see what kind of a windsurfer I need to be heading into the next Olympics.”

It’s a trip Shaw might not be making had the International Sailing Federation stuck to an original decision to drop the sport from the Rio Games in favour of kitesurfing last year.

A decision Byrony said “deflated” her and a number of other athletes.

“The sport was in absolute shock and we were all caught on the back foot.”

“When it hit home we realised how many people it affected, from grassroots through to the pro-tour.”

“Everyone who loves the sport got so behind the bid to get it back in and when that happened it was fantastic to see.”

The 30-year-old admitted the rollercoaster experience over the past 12 months helped rejuvenate her.

“I’ve really charged out of the blocks this year, as soon as windsurfing was reinstated I got a silver medal which shows that the preparation for that event went really well and I really put that illness behind me.”

“It was great to see so many young people coming through (at the World Championships) and the women’s side of it got 5 medals.

“It was such an enjoyable competition to see the next generation coming through nipping at our heels whilst at the same time they saw us a role models.”

A year on from London 2012 Bryony believes a clear legacy is starting to be shown.

“Everyone has really got super sporty, not just with the Olympics, with Andy Murray winning, the cricket, more women’s football on TV and all the anniversary championships that are going on, it’s great to see the nation is still really hooked.”

“I taught one of my sisters to windsurf just last weekend, she had never tried it before and she always tells me that all her friends still talk about the Olympics.

“I think anyone involved in sport even at an amateur level kind of just wants to step it up and take on new challenges.”