England's Evie Richards is aiming to put a difficult start to the year behind her in a bid to achieve her dream of winning Commonwealth gold as the women's Mountain Bike Cross-Country gets under way on Wednesday.

The Gold Coast 2018 runner-up, who has been struggling with a bad back since February before contracting coronavirus last month, has been working on building back her fitness as she aims to go one better at Birmingham 2022 with victory.

The 25-year-old Olympian said: "I have had a pretty rubbish year so far, probably one of my worst years I've ever had.

"In February I started the mountain bike season with a stage race and since then I've just had a really bad back. I've finished nearly every race in tears and over half of them I haven't finished. I've been in so much pain.

"If I manage to win gold it will definitely turn the year around. The Commonwealth Games and Olympics is all I ever dreamt of doing. 

"Obviously, I would love to a win a gold medal somewhere so close to home, it would mean the world, but I have to be realistic.

"I had Covid two or three weeks ago and was off the bike for two weeks with that - and obviously had to deal with the back injury.

"I trained so hard, I hope that all that training over however many months pays off and it can outweigh all the injuries and illness. I would really love to be able to get the gold, but I have to realistic.

If I manage to win gold it will definitely turn the year around. The Commonwealth Games and Olympics is all I ever dreamt of doing
Evie Richards

"It would mean the world and would show the hard work I put in and the rehab on my back. It would mean a lot for my family as they've had to pick me up a lot this year."

Meanwhile, New Zealand's Gold Coast silver medallist Anton Cooper has withdrawn from the competition after testing positive for Covid-19.

The disappointed 27-year-old, who won Commonwealth gold at Glasgow 2014, is in hotel isolation just outside the Athletes' Village and confirmed he would be cheering on the rest of the team from there.

He said: “I’m absolutely gutted. After winning gold in 2014 and silver in 2018, I had put a focus on competing in Birmingham over UCI World Cup races that clash. 

"While I’m feeling a bit under the weather, my symptoms are pretty mild overall – but I just don’t think it’s going to be good for me to race.

"I will be making sure I’m supporting the rest of the New Zealand Team from my isolation room."

Defending champion Samuel Gaze will be joined by Ben Oliver as the two remaining New Zealand representatives in the men's race, which gets under way at 11:30am on Wednesday ahead of the women's race at 2pm at Cannock Chase Forest.