LAST weekend, South Shields; next month, South America. Things are about to get a bit more glamorous for Olympic trampolinist Kat Driscoll.

Having triumphed at the final World Games trials, which were staged at South Shields' Temple Park Leisure Centre on Saturday, Driscoll can now look forward to competing at one of the world's biggest multi-sport events in Colombia.

Last summer, the West Rainton-based 27-year-old made her Olympic debut in London and finished in a more-than-creditable ninth position.

Twelve months on, and along with her synchro partner Amanda Parker, she is preparing to jump on the world stage once again.

"A lot of people probably don't know much about the World Games, but in our sport, it's a really big deal," said Driscoll, who is a member of Apollo Trampoline Club in Washington. "It's basically the Olympics for events that aren't in the Olympics.

"Individual trampolining is an Olympic discipline, so there isn't an individual competition at the World Games. But synchro trampolining (where two trampolinists jump alongside each other performing the same routine) isn't on the Olympic programme, so the World Games is basically the biggest thing going on that side of the sport.

"The Olympic gold medallist from the individual (Canada's Rosannagh MacLennan) is competing with her partner, and we're expecting the top girls from Ukraine and Belarus to be there as well.

"The standard will be pretty much on a par with the Olympics, although with it being synchro, the demands are a bit different."

Having first paired up with Parker in 2011, Driscoll has enjoyed more success in the synchro sphere than as an individual, despite having previously spent time at the top of the individual world rankings.

The duo won a bronze medal at the World Championships in 2011 and finished second at the European Championships a year later.

They have claimed a medal at every international synchro event they have entered, and last weekend's display on South Tyneside suggests they will be travelling to Colombia in good shape.

"It was our first competition together since last October, and we haven't done a lot of jumping together in the last few months, so it was nice to get out there and show what we can do," said Driscoll. "We were 0.3pts off our personal best, which we set in the worlds in 2011.

"We needed to prove we were still the best pair in the country, and we really enjoyed the whole thing.

"Jumping as part of a pair is very different to jumping as an individual, but we get on so well it always feels really easy when we get back together.

"We're best mates as well as jumping partners, but that has its problems because when we're meant to be training, we spend half the day laughing and catching up."

Unfortunately, for Driscoll, most of the pair's last catching up session involved a detailed medical update.

Since competing at London 2012, the British number one has been suffering from persistent pain in her back. At first, she attributed the problem to her increased training schedule ahead of the Olympics, but as the situation worsened through the winter, she gradually sensed things were more serious.

British Gymnastics suggested an MRI scan to rule out a stress fracture, and while the results showed nothing was broken, Driscoll was diagnosed with a bone fusion in her lower spine.

"Part of my spine is fused," she said. "It's something I was born with, but because of the fairly unique movements that are involved in gymnastics, the problem has been exacerbated by over-use.

"It's been a difficult winter. I had a course of injections in January, and I wasn't allowed back until the end of March. Even then, I was only allowed on the trampoline three times a week.

"I've gradually been stepping things up since then, but I'm probably still only at about 90 per cent. The pain has gone, although I have to sit with a hot water bottle on my back whenever I do any long journeys."

It's unlikely that a hot water bottle will be needed in the Colombian city of Cali, which is hosting the World Games between July 25 and August 4.

Other sports at the event include squash, karate, billiards, bowls and beach handball, and more than 100 different countries are expected to take part.

"I've been to the World Games once before in 2005, when they were in Germany," said Driscoll. "I didn't really know what to expect then, but it was massive. The opening ceremony was huge - not quite on a par with the Olympics, but not far off.

"We're going to miss the opening ceremony this time because the trampoline programme is quite late in the Games and we're not flying out until they've started. But after all the excitement of last summer, it'll be nice to be part of a major sporting event again.

"You can never be too confident with a synchro routine because it can go wrong at any time, but we're going to Colombia with real hopes of coming back with a medal.

"We've been doing the same routine for a while now, and we're happy with it. It'll be interesting to see what the other girls come up with, but I don't think there's anyone doing a routine with a higher difficulty rating than ours, so that should give us half a chance."