Christine Ohuruogu seeks return to form at UK Trials

Olympic 400m champion Christine Ohuruogu has spoken of her "heartache and hassle" since winning in Beijing but has stressed her desire to defend her title at London 2012.

Ohuruogu, 27, has been plagued by injuries since adding the Olympic title to her World Championship crown.

The British athlete missed the European Championships and Commonwealth Games.

"It would have been easier on my down days to say 'forget it' if the Olympics weren't coming to London," she said.

Ohuruogu will be competing at the UK Trials and Championships in Birmingham this weekend as she attempts to make the team for next month's World Championships in South Korea.

But Ohuruogu faces a difficult task to trouble the world's best as she has not broken 50 seconds for the 400m since the Olympic final in 2008. And her best time this year of 51.49secs leaves her a lowly 33rd in the world rankings - and only third in Britain.

"I've got the qualifying time with my run in Barcelona [last Friday] but I'd like to go into the Worlds with a really quickish time," Ohuruogu added.

"I'm looking forward to just getting on the track and competing. It's been so long since I've run on the track. It's been a very long year for me. I'm just grateful that I'm back and I'm fit and everything has been going well so far."

Ohuruogu is understandably proud of her medal collection, but feels she still has more to achieve in the event.

"Even though I won in Beijing, it wasn't how I wanted to run. I think there's a lot more I need to do before I can finally close the lid on the 400m," she said.

"If I was just satisfied with winning in Beijing I probably would have retired a long time ago and saved myself a lot of heartache and hassle.

"But I love what I do and I believe there is always something more I can do, something more I can achieve, so this is why I keep on going."

Other Brits in action in Birmingham include World and European champion Phillips Idowu, double European champion and European record holder Mo Farah, and World and European champion Jessica Ennis.