By Anna Thompson BBC Sport in Laax, Switzerland

Zoe Gillings is not satisfied being one of the top snowboard cross racers in the world.

The Briton wants to be the best and is spending the summer at the English Institute of Sport at Bath University to improve her starts.

Getting out of the start-gate is all important in the frenetic sport.

Gillings, ranked seventh in the world, told BBC Sport: "My starts have not been consistent so this is one of my main aims to work on this summer."

The 22-year-old has had a storming season, finishing in the top 10 on six occasions in World Cup races - including a second place at Gujo-Gifu in Japan - as well as sixth place at the X Games in Colorado.

She also took the British snowboard cross title at the British Freestyle Skiing and Snowboarding Championships held at Laax in Switzerland.

Over four days, more than 250 British skiers and snowboarders competed in skier/boarder cross, half-pipe, big air and slopestyle.

Gillings (centre) heads out of the start-gate first at the Brits

Gillings was always expected to win the snowboard cross title but said this heaped extra pressure on her shoulders.

In the final she was racing against fellow Olympians Lesley McKenna and Kate Foster and World Cup snowboard cross racer Ivy Taylor.

"It was one of those that if I won everyone would say 'she's been to the Olympics so she should win' and if I hadn't it would have been really embarrassing.

"So it was a mixture of joy and relief to win at the Brits," said Gillings.

The Brits enabled her parents Jill and Robert to head over from their Isle of Man home to spend rare time with their daughter.

And Zoe even coached - and coaxed - her mum to take part in the Masters Women's race, with Mrs Gillings finishing second!

"It was the first race she had ever done. I am so proud of her," said Gillings.

With less than two years to go before the Vancouver Winter Olympics, Gillings will turn her attention to improving her world ranking as well as making the qualifying grade for the Games.

It was very difficult weather conditions but we all gave it our best shot and pushed each other's ability Dom Harington

And if she can stay injury free, Gillings is already being tipped as a serious medal hope for Great Britain.

She competed in the 2006 Games in Turin when she was barely fit after battling back from what was nearly a career-ending foot injury.

Gillings came a creditable 15th but she is clearly hoping for more next time around.

"I definitely feel I have got a good chance of getting a medal. It's a question of getting everything right in the build up to give myself the best chance of everything going right on that day," she added.

Others who have a definite eye on Olympic qualification are snowboarders Dan Wakeham, Dom Harington, Sam Cullum and Ben Kilner.

Wakeham scored a top 10 World Cup result this season while Harington took the second-tier Europa Cup half-pipe title.

All four were competing at the Brits and it may have been a season finale but they were all taking it seriously.

Harington triumphed in the half-pipe, ahead of Kilner and Cullum as Wakeham fell during his final two runs.

The Leeds-based boarder said: "It was very difficult weather conditions but we all gave it our best shot and pushed each other's ability."