CYCLING: SOUTH Cheshire cyclist Emma Davies-Jones is aiming for Commonwealth Games glory after a miraculous recovery from injury.
The 27-year-old was left with a fractured spine after being struck by a car in a hitand-run accident while cycling near Manchester in October.
Britain's leading female pursuit cyclist missed becoming a quadriplegic by millimetres and feared for her career.
But after spending just 10 days at the aptly-named Hope Hospital in Salford, she has made an incredible recovery to jet out to Melbourne for the Games.
Davies-Jones, from Alsager, who has competed in the Commonwealth Games twice and represented her country at the Athens Olympics, said: 'I took one step at a time. I never imagined going to Melbourne really, it was too far ahead. It would have been an insurmountable goal, lying on my back, not moving. But it is such a great reward to get there.'
Other South Cheshire competitors who are part of Team England for the Games, which begin on March 15, include pole vaulter Kate Dennison and gymnast Beth Tweddle.
Dennison, 21, from Alsager, was fourth in the pole vault at the 2005 AAA Championships and twice set personal bests at a recent indoor event at Loughborough University.
Tweddle, a World Championship double bronze-medallist from Bunbury, leads England's gymnastics challenge. It will be the 20-year-old's second Commonwealth Games. She won a gold on the uneven bars at the Manchester 2002 Games, and won individual and team silver medals.
