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Video: Watch Cairns and GB in Worlds qualifying action. (UK users only)

"I assumed my career was over," she says as we watch the conclusion of qualification at the . Cairns helped the British women to reach Wednesday's final, then will have a place in the final of the vault on Saturday.

"There were times I was in bed at 2am - all my sleeping patterns had gone because I was sat down doing nothing every day - and I was staring out of my window thinking, 'I just want to go to the gym'. But I couldn't. I couldn't even walk. It was dreadful.

Cairns won double Commonwealth gold in Delhi. Photo: Getty Images

"It happened during a warm-up. When I landed I felt both legs snap - not the bones, but everything else snapped.Ìý

"It took me a long time to walk again, and then it didn't heal properly. Scar tissue formed and I had to go back for another operation to clear that out.

"All the skills were still in my head, I just needed to get fit, but it tookÌýme two years to get back. The hardest part was doing nothing for six months, in bed. I lost my motivation, I was putting on weight and I became very depressed."

The injury wasn't the only demon Cairns faced. With a few notable exceptions - such as 25-year-old - female gymnasts entering their 20s become painfully aware of a clock ticking. Many are barely out of their teens when they retire, and Cairns had already achieved her dream.

"I always say I need an aim in gymnastics," she says. "Something to work for, something to drive me to go into the gym. The worst was after the Olympics: my whole life was to get there, it's the pinnacle of a gymnast's career. It was on my mind from the minute I was a little girl.

"But I think that really screwed me up. Once it was over I thought, 'What now?' Something went from me and I wondered why I was even in the sport.

"I was really fit after China, at my peak, so I got a new floor routine together with bigger and better skills, and then the injury happened.ÌýAnd that makes me think these things happen for a reason. I think that was meant to happen, because when I came back I was hungry for it again."

It isn't the first time Cairns' love of gymnastics has won the day. She grew up in a Bristol pub run by her parents but, when she was 14, they chose to sell up and move to Devon at the same time as her gymnastics coach moved to a club in Portishead.

Cairns chose Portishead over Devon, effectively leaving home at 14 to move in with a friend. She remembers: "Gymnastics was my life at the time. I was good at it, why stop? Why pull away for a normal life? I didn't want that."

It's safe to say the last few years don't qualify as normal. Her legs and career reconstructed, she hauled herself into England's team for the Commonwealth Games in Delhi, announcing her comeback with gold medals on the vault and floor. Stories of did nothing to dampen her enthusiasm.

"It's one of the best trips I've ever been on - I wish I could still be there. Everything was nice: the food, the place, the rooms, the gyms, everything was up to scratch. Whatever we read and heard about Delhi was all rubbish.ÌýPeople came with the expectation it'd be bad, but once you were there it got nobody down. You saw for yourself it was fine.

"I did what I wanted to do in Delhi. Everything slotted into place and if it wasn't going to happen for me then, it wasn't ever going to happen."

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Video: Discover the top international gymnasts challenging GB women at Worlds. (UK users only)

Her performances caught the eye of the British team selectors in Rotterdam and, having initially been named as a reserve, Cairns found herself sent straight into action for GB a week after the Commonwealths. Crutches cast aside, she is lining up in finals here as one of the finest gymnasts in the world.

"It's hard to say how much the injury set me back, but something has changed and I'm a lot better than I ever was now, and there's still more to come. I've still got it.ÌýWhen you're tired, your body's hurting and you can't manage it, that's the time to do other things. But I just don't feel that yet. I'm not ready to give up.

"London 2012 was never a target for me. But now I'm thinking - if they can pick me for Worlds then I'm not going to say no, I'm going to go. I'm enjoying it at the moment and never before could I truly say that. I can choose what I want to do. I appreciate it and I feel really lucky to be here.

"I've nothing to lose, I've only got things to gain. All I want to do is keep performing like I am. It could be karma, I don't know, but I'm doing well and I couldn't be any more ready then I am. If it goes, it goes - which it should - and if it doesn't, I'm not getting down about it. The fire is burning."