"Beijing may turn out to be the best week of my entire life but I'd hate to think that everything went downhill from the age of 19," she told the Mail on Sunday in an interview published today.

"I don't want to be a one-hit wonder. 

"I'm always going to remember 2009. 

"I'll always recall how it felt not to perform.

"I'll never forget those feelings.

"And I'm never going to let it happen again."

Adlington won the 400 and 800 metre freestyle golds in Beijing in 2008 but came only third in the 400m and fourth in the 800m at the World Championships in Rome in July.

The Briton had earlier spoken out against the latest, now-banned, bodysuits as "technological doping" and had refused to wear them.

She said: "We'll never know what difference the swimsuits made in Rome.

"What I do know is that I swam the 800 metres three seconds slower than in the previous year.

"It's taken me time to work out why, but September to December is a crucial time because that's when all the engine work is done in the pool.

"I spent a fair bit of that time last year enjoying the post-Beijing euphoria, and I wouldn't swap it for anything.

"That might have been my last Olympics so it would have been a dreadful shame not to enjoy it all.

"But something had to give.
 
"I hadn't done the hard yards and I got found out in Rome.

"I learned so much more out of losing in 2009 than winning in 2008."


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July 2009: Jackson and Adlington second and third at World Championship
September 2008: Adlington may target four gold medals at London 2012