KAMPALA, June 20 (Xinhua) -- With her Olympic dream already blown, Ugandan track queen Dorcus Inzikuru has turned her targets to next year's World Athletics Championships in Stuttgart, Germany.

    Inzikuru won the inaugural 3,000m steeplechase race at the 2005 Helsinki World Championships and won gold at the 2006 Melbourne Commonwealth Games. But she has since last March struggled with illness and took time to give birth last December.

    Following 15 months' absence, Inzikuru participated in the Olympic Torch Relay in Tanzania late April and returned to the track a fortnight ago hoping to be part of the Ugandan team to theBeijing Olympics.

    But the Arua gazelle has not overcome the after-effects of birth and it showed as she was overlapped halfway into the race at the Pan Africa Grand Prix at Namboole National Stadium.

    However, Inzikuru remains optimistic and believes she can recapture her medal come August 15-23 next year.

    "I need time to regain shape and fitness. I am a bit heavy at the moment but I will be back stronger," Inzikuru was quoted by Daily Monitor on Friday as saying.

    The 26-year-old steeplechase queen is undergoing residential training in Iten, Kenya but has given up competing at the Olympic Games due August 8-24 in Beijing, China.

    She, however, retains dreams of making a maiden appearance at the Olympics and maybe scooping a medal.

    "If I make a successful comeback, I will definitely build-up for the 2012 Olympics because Beijing is too soon," she noted.

    Inzikuru is expected to head to Italy next month where she hopes to undergo further training and take part in some build-up races.

    At the same time, Ugandan female sprinter Justine Bayiga will re-ignite her Olympics qualification bid in this weekend's Kyabazinga Championship. She will most likely be the only Ugandan female runner at the Beijing Games.