British athlete Vanessa Raw sleeping in a tent to boost her London 2012 medal chances

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The clock is ticking & Britain's Olympic hopefuls are doing all they can to get ready for the 2012 Games.

But one athlete could be taking things a little further than the rest.

British triathlete hope Vanessa Raw, 27, wants to scale new heights in training and make sure she's conditioning herself at every possible moment.

So, she's set up a special training tent in her home in south west London and is sleeping in it.

The tent is meant to help simulate breathing conditions at altitudes up to 12,000ft, and supercharge her 40 winks.

Durham-born Raw has also been using her hypoxic breathing apparatus while cycling indoors at her art studio at home in Kingston-upon-Thames to help with the training.

The 27-year-old took up the sport while studying for a degree in Fine Art at Loughborough University in June 2010.

She quickly rose through the ranks to join Britain's brightest young talents in the British Olympic triathlon academy squad.

But her staggering success in the triathlon was halted by a series of injuries, including a troublesome knee complaint, stress fractures and muscle troubles.

The unlucky Raw, who still picks up the paintbrush despite competing full-time, was also diagnosed with anaemia.

It followed her collapse after the ITU World Championship Series race in Sydney two years ago.

But since then her fortunes have improved, and she is also trying to carve out a blossoming career as an artist.

A new coaching and management team – coupled with a move to her current training base in Kingston – saw her return to form with a bang last year as she finished 10th at a World Cup race in Mexico before winning the Eilat ITU Triathlon European Cup in Israel in October.

It has put her back in the hunt for one of two unclaimed 2012 Olympic places behind leading Brit Helen Jenkins and Raw is out to take her chance, whatever it takes.


Source
By Leon Watson
www.dailymail.co.uk