Former Surbiton High School student Chemmy Alcott is ever the optimist, but even she has had to admit getting back to fitness has been mentally testing.

The 29-year-old suffered a horrific broken leg last December in training ahead of the last season’s first World Cup downhill event of the winter in Alberta – writing off her campaign before it had even started.

It meant a complete season of rehab, having finished 11th in the super-combined event and 13th at the Vancouver Winter Olympics, and is likely to keep her sidelined this season as well as she targets a fourth Games appearance in 2014.

The silver lining to what could be a two-year injury lay-off, is her world ranking should be relatively untouched by the time she returns to the slopes and that she will have prove the doubters wrong.

“It is really nice to be this close to winter and to be almost in a position to come back,” she said.

“Even if I don’t race this season, which is looking quite likely, I still know I’ve still got it in me to comeback.

“My goal has always been the Sochi Olympics in Russia. I know what I need to do to ski fast and I won’t need much preparation time because my world rankings will still be good.

“So many people think I can’t come back from it, but every day I get stronger and every day I realise I can.”

Alcott, who is from Twickenham, famously came back from a broken vertebrae she suffered when skiing as a child.

But she accepts getting back in the swing of professional skiing as an adult has been a bigger challenge.

Her fellow British ski racer boyfriend Dougie Crawford, who she shares a house with on the river near Hampton, is also in the midst of a comeback having taken a year off with injury.

And Alcott, speaking at the British Olympic Ball at Kensington Olympia earlier this month, admitted her spell on the sidelines is made even harder by the thought of him being back on the slopes.

“Being an athlete in rehab is the hardest life an athlete has to lead,” she added.

“When you are doing what you know, it is easy to go training. But somehow I’ve had to train seven hours a day without using my right leg.

“I’ve been rowing and working on my upper body, which is why I’m so bulky at the moment – people don’t know I’m a ski racer when they look at me.

“Dougie finally came back after a year out and in his first race improved his world ranking by a crazy amount.

“It is going really well for him, but I’m so jealous. I’m really happy for him, but I’m so jealous.”

Alcott will not be kicking her heels for much longer though have been spotted at a Slough ice rink last week preparing for a potential star turn in ITV1's hit entertainment programme Dancing on Ice.