Eye op won't wreck Briton's Olympic bid

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Minichiello and her racing partner Gillian Cooke are expected to challenge for the gold medal at the Vancouver Olympics in February and she is confident that her eye condition, caused by imflamation of the retina, will not threaten her participation.

"We were out in Italy racing and on day two of training things got blurry in my left eye," Minichiello told BBC Radio Five Live.

"By the time we got to the race I'd lost 80 percent vision -- I didn't tell Gill, I thought it was best she didn't know."

After finishing eighth in the race earlier this month, Minichiello, who teamed up with Cooke in February to become the first British bobsleigh world champions since 1965, was advised by team doctors to return home for treatment in Sheffield.

"The medical team have been fantastic and it's something that will be a simple fix -- by Saturday morning I should be 20-20 again," she said.

The part-time sports teacher said she expects to be back in training by Christmas and said she would be ready by the time the Vancouver Winter Olympics start on Feb. 12.

"We'll be back out on the ice in January to make sure we're fresh and ready to rock," she said.