Belgian duo Bolshakova and De Grande back in training
Bolshakova ruptured a tendon while competing in Rabat, Morocco, in June and had to miss the World Championships but started training again in late September, 14 weeks after surgery.
“The rehabilitation of the Achilles is running smoothly, my training is being built up gradually,” said Bolshakova, who holds the Belgian triple jump records both indoors and outdoors.
Bolshakova spent last week on the Spanish island of Lanzarote getting familiar again to the demands of a full training schedule.
"The week in Lanzarote was the first test to see what I can do. I am pleased with the outcome. Everything is under control and I hope that there is no reaction, I'm on schedule,” said Bolshakova earlier this week.
“This gives me a confidence boost but the real work still has to begin. From January, I hope to be back to normal but I'm continuing to keep an eye on things day-by-day.
"About the Olympics, I remain realistic. The important thing is that I qualify but I am not worrying about it at the moment. I will do everything I can to get to London but whether I will succeed, nobody knows,” she added.
"We still have a long way to go,” commented her coach Michel Boels, speaking to the Belgian media.
"Until early June, there are not any plans to compete then we want to qualify as quickly as possible for the European Athletics Championships in Helsinki.
“The minimum for London (14.40m) seems a long way but if you can jump that, you can get into the final. Once you're at the Olympics, you get your adrenaline flowing, that's what happened in Barcelona," added Boels.
At the European Athletics Championships last year, Bolshakova bounded out to a Belgian record of 14.55m to clinch her place on the podium.
Another of Belgium's top athletes on the road to recovery is middle distance runner Lindsey De Grande.
De Grande, 22, finished an impressive sixth in the European Athletics Indoor Championships 1500m final earlier this year and set two Belgian indoor records over the distance.
However, a disappointing ninth place in the European Athletics U23 Championships 1500m in Ostrava, Czech Republic, in July lead her to suspect that something was wrong and shortly afterwards she was diagnosed with chronic leukaemia.
De Grande is still undergoing treatment to bring the disease in remission but she has been able to return to light training and remains optimistic about competing in 2012.
