National track cycling coach Martin Barras is growing more confident that injured sprinter Anna Meares will qualify for the Beijing Olympics.

But he has described the likely margin of her qualification chances as being as slim as "an onion peel".

Meares, the 500m time trial world record holder, suffered serious injuries late last month when she crashed during the keirin final at the Los Angeles World Cup round.

She sustained a hairline fracture to her C2 vertebrae and some torn muscles in her neck, a dislocated right shoulder, torn tendons in her shoulder and some bruising.

While the Olympic gold medallist will make a full recovery, her time off the bike means other international sprinters will move ahead of Meares in the points table for Olympic qualification.

"I've crunched the numbers more in the last few days and it now looks like she will qualify for Beijing by four points," Barras said.

"That's four out of the 714 points she currently has - that's how tight it is, we're talking an onion peel.

"But the reality is, her neck injury was that serious, we cannot muck around with it - we cannot push her recovery schedule.

"The best case is she's back on the (track) bike, of her own volition, by mid-March."

Meares is already having brief sessions on an indoor bike, with her coaches rigging up a portable clothes rack to keep her upper body stable.

Meares continues to wear a neck brace as she recovers from her injuries.

"Two weeks after the crash and I am able to now walk unaided and move my arm," Meares told the cyclingnews website.

"My coach and mechanic made me a little rig where I can sit upright on a stationary ergo (ergometer) so as not to put much pressure on my neck.

"How simple an idea - a portable clothes rack."

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