Kwakye was sixth in Beijing and was the first British woman to make a sprint final in 24 years having earlier that year had won a silver medal over 60m at the World Indoor Championships.

Yet just a few months later, the Londoner simply slipped while on a training run in Enfield and suffered a knee injury which ruined her next two seasons.

With London 2012 now on the horizon, Kwakye insists she is in positive mood as she knows she has come through the worst of her injury problems.

"My 2009 season was pretty messed up because I had this knee problem that wasn't going, the rehab wasn't working and it was awful," Kwakye said.

Operation

"At the end of the 2009 season they decided to operate, which kept me out of the 2010 season. It kept me out for so long, but what it did do was give me a chance to completely start from scratch and make sure my body was as strong as it could be when I did go back to running.

"As an athlete I'm always going to have niggles and small injuries so I'm always prepared for that, but nothing is ever going to be as bad as what I had to go through after the Games.

"A hamstring tear is a paper cut compared to what I've been through. I just get on with it and my outlook now on the whole thing is a lot better and a lot more positive."

That is just as well given that Kwakye effectively had to learn to walk again, also moving her mother into her house as she was unable to get around.

"I went from being one of the fastest women in the world to not being able to get around a supermarket," Kwakye added.

"It was literally a destroy and rebuild-type mission and I had a fantastic team that was able to get me back to where I am now."

Return

The 29-year-old still has plenty left in the tank and marked her return by reaching the semi-finals of the World Championships in Daegu last year.

She won the UK Trials and Indoor Championships in Sheffield in February, although she opted to miss the World Indoors in Istanbul to protect a minor Achilles injury.

Now the focus is firmly on qualifying for the Olympics on home soil this summer, an experience she believes will be priceless.

"It's huge," Kwakye added. "I live a stone's throw away from the stadium itself and I was brought up a mile and a half away.

"To come to the pinnacle of my career where it all started is amazing. You always want to compete in the Olympic Games as a kid and to have it in your own home town is fantastic. It's hard to put into words, but I think it's going to be fantastic.

"I'm always thinking I wish the Games were in 2013 to give me another year but it waits for no one, you have to be ready, so I had make sure my rehab was done to the letter so I came back as strong as possible.

"I'm not necessarily a person who goes week in, week out performing amazingly, but I am that person at a championships that you can't count out."

As part of the P&G Capital Clean Up, Jeanette Kwakye is leading Team Ariel on its quest to make London stain free in time for the London 2012 Olympic Games. To find out more about the P&G Capital Clean Up go to www.pgcapitalcleanup.com