Jana Rawlinson knows she’ll win no medals for being glamorous.

But like most women, this athletic heroine wants to love the reflection she sees in the mirror – and for many years she didn’t, which is why she had a breast enlargement in July 2008.

It is also why she had her implants removed in September last year. “Yep, I’m back to being flat as a pancake, so I need all the help I can get,” she says good-naturedly. Cupping her hands protectively over her push-up bra, she tells Woman’s Day about the secret surgeries – not one, but two – she underwent in the space of 14 months.

“I absolutely loved having bigger boobs, but finally I’ve grown up enough to know myself; to be honest about who I am when I look in the mirror. I don’t want to short-change Australia either – I want to feel the most athletic I can, to know that I’m standing on the track in London [2012 Olympics] the fittest I can be.

“I don’t need to be glamorous, not at this point in my life. I can always get my breasts enhanced again when I finish my career. I know there are no medals for being beautiful.”

Her first operation in July 2008, which boosted her breast size from a 12B to 12D, was the result of years of doubting herself and her appearance.

“I was always really unhappy with the way I looked,” admits Jana. It’s a surprise revelation from an outwardly confident 180cm tall woman – a two-time 400 metre hurdles world champion admired around the globe for her athletic physique and power on the track.

“When I looked in the mirror I just saw muscled arms, broad shoulders and big, strong legs,” she says. “These are assets I need to run well, but they didn’t make me feel like an attractive woman.

“There are a couple of girls – who I won’t name – in world athletics who are Olympic champions, but they look like men – and I don’t want to be like that. I feel masculine enough as it is. “That’s what pushed me into getting the first surgery for the enhancement.

“I’d always envied girls who are naturally petite, with hourglass figures. The only time in my life that I’ve felt feminine was when I was pregnant.”

Jana’s breasts went to a DD when she was expecting her son Cornelis, 3, and while she was breastfeeding. “Then I felt like a different person, soft and womanly, and I absolutely fell in love with my big boobs.”