The forgotten girl of British athletics, Lisa Dobriskey, hopes a move to the US will help her return to her best in time to challenge for Olympic glory in Rio next summer.

The Ashford AC star has not run competitively since pulling up in the British Championships at Birmingham in July 2013, which itself was just her fifth race since the London 2012 Olympic final.

The 2009 World Championship silver medallist has undergone surgery on hip problems which also hampered her preparations for the London Games, even before she was diagnosed with blood clots on her lungs.

Dobriskey admitted she felt like an outsider after losing her UK Athletics funding in 2013 but after a six-month training camp last winter, Dobriskey has now followed her husband and coach Ricky Soos in relocating permanently to the World Athletics Centre (WAC) in Paradise Valley, Phoenix, Arizona.

The 31-year-old admitted to the WAC website: “I’ve had some difficult injury and illness issues over the last couple of years, so now I am hoping I can get a full winter of training in and be back to my best for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.

“I love training in the sunshine and found being in a warm environment meant my body always felt ready to train. On top of that, we are also less than two hours from altitude – which is a great option to have so close to our main training base.”

The former Southlands School pupil, explaining why she decided to move to Arizona full-time, said: “For the first time in a while, I fell in love with running again.

“I hadn’t felt like that for a long time. I 100% believe that being here gives me my best chance of getting back to my best.

“Last year I met with (US-based coach) Dan Pfaff while he was in the UK and he helped me with some treatment and advice. I was at a point in my career where I was struggling, so I decided to spend the winter in Phoenix working with Dan and the rest of the team.

“Having access to the coaches and therapists at the WAC felt like a bit of a lifeline. I felt like part of a team instantly.

“I lost my funding in 2013 and felt as though everybody had given up on me. It was incredibly difficult to suddenly feel like an outsider.

“One of the best things about the WAC is the team dynamic – everyone is so positive and there are no egos. I was made to feel immediately welcome and part of something special.”