SHELLEY Rudman believes she has taken significant strides forward on her journey to the next Winter Olympics despite seeing illness rob her of a golden shot at a first World Cup title.

The weakened Pewsey slider, laid low by a chest infection, crawled out of her sickbed to contest the final stage of the eight-round series in Cesana, Italy.

Rudman, 29, finished seventh on the track where she clinched Olympic silver in 2006, a creditable result in the circumstances but not enough to challenge Germany’s Anja Huber, who clinched victory and the overall title.

It left the Wiltshire woman in second place overall for the second year running, but despite her ill-fortune, a recovering Rudman is reflecting on a season of positives.

“Ideally, I wouldn’t have raced, but given the situation and with the World Cup being really hard to win, I had to give it a go,’’ she told the Gazette & Herald.

“Anja was sliding so strongly, but she and I were looking forward to having a good final battle.

“Looking back at what I went through before the race, I’m seriously shocked that I was fourth after the first run and then seventh after the second.’’

Nevertheless, she is reflecting on her most successful season to date honours-wise, two World Cup victories and European Championship title being testament to the success of a training regime she and her backup team devised at the conclusion of the Vancouver Olympics last year to improve the weaker elements of her discipline.

Rudman, who thanked her supporters in Pewsey and Wiltshire, added: “I had the most World Cup wins I’ve ever had in one season.

“I started training straight after Vancouver, but didn’t start my strength work until later in the season.

“I trained through the first half of the World Cup season, which I wouldn’t normally do and my push at the starts came on really well.

“It’s a two-year goal with the starts because that’s my weakest element, but I have made some good progress.’’

Rudman and teammate Donna Creighton will lead Britain’s challenge at the season-ending World Championships in Germany at the end of the month.