The 35-year-old has admitted that she is excited at the prospect of returning to the Paralympics 24 years after she was the youngest member of America's team to compete in the 1992 Games in Barcelona, when she ran in the 100 metres.

"I'm definitely toying with the idea," Reinertsen told Triathlete magazine.

"If I can stay healthy enough I think I'm going to make a go of it.

"I actually got to hang out with [Britain's former world triathlon champion] Simon Lessing a couple of months ago, and he's [around] my age, and I was talking to him and it confirmed for me that, yeah, I can still be competitive.

"Maybe I'll need to build in a little more recovery time as I get older, but still it's possible.

"A lot of [professional] women in triathlon are in their 30s, and especially in longer distances, they are definitely in their 40s.

"I think it's possible, but I just have to take it one year at a time."

Reinertsen, who was born with proximal femoral focal deficiency, a bone-growth disorder which eventually led to her becoming an above-the-knee amputee at the age of seven, has been a pioneer for disabled athletes in running and triathlon.

She set world records in the 100 metres, 200m and 400m in the T42 division. 

The Californian has also completed seven marathons, including London in 2002.

She holds the world records in the half-marathon and marathon of 2 hours 12min and 5:27 for above-knee amputee marathon.

Reinertsen has appeared on the cover of several magazines and in October 2009 was pictured partially nude in ESPN the Magazine's body issue.

Reinertsen first attempted to finish the Ironman in 2004, but was disqualified when she failed to meet the qualifying time for the bike leg by 15 minutes.

She returned in 2005 and completed the race in just over 15 hours.

Looking ahead to Rio in 2016, Reinertsen believes that the introduction of Paratriathlon will mark a huge moment in the sport's history but that the developed countries will share an advantage over triathletes from less wealthy countries.

"The British Paratriathlon squad is pretty strong, and they seem to support their athletes," she said.

"I still think there are other countries that would argue the Paralympics is not big there.

"The Paralympics is the biggest in Western countries, to be fair.

"Germany and England and America are places where you have access to prosthetics.

"This access is still an issue for some, even in some of the sports like running, but especially in the sport of triathlon, because you need access to much more equipment."

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