JUST a year ago she was ready to give up the sport - now Worcester race walker Wendy Bennett has the Commonwealth Games in her sights.

The mother-of-three has just made her England debut, finishing 15th in a world-class field over 20 kilometres at the Dublin International Grand Prix.

She's hoping to maintain her progress in time to secure a place at the Common-wealth Games in Manchester next year.

Yet 12 months ago a serious knee injury put all those plans in doubt.

The Worcester Athletic Club member had just returned to the sport after a five-year break to raise her family, and rapid progress had seen her gain selection for the Midlands until her injury.

She said: "My whole knee came out of joint due to a bad foot position.

"I was unable to race-walk for six months - I could run but I couldn't straighten my knee, which you need to be able to do in race-walking. I was ready to give up."

But a visit to podiatrist Robert Hill, based at Droitwich Hospital, changed everything.

She added: "By correcting my foot position he has put my knee back into place, and it has made a huge difference."

Since returning to action in March, she's set personal best times in all four race-walking distances, and finishing third in the national 10km championships earned her first selection for England.

"I came back into it just to get fit again. I like my children to grow up inmto a sporting environment, but it has just taken off. The determination was there and the times have just fallen like a stone."

"My main thing now is to keep injury-free and keep up my training distances.

"It would be a dream come true to make the Commonwealth Games but there is a lot of hard work to be done before then."

Wendy will have to concentrate on the shorter distances over the next two months, including the AAA Championships over 5km on July 14, but when the track season finishes she will then target the longer distances.