Pistol shooter Georgina Geikie already has her sights set on Rio in 2016 after bowing out of her first Olympic Games.
The 27-year-old finished 37th out of 39 competitors in today’s qualification round for the 25m pistol event, three days after coming 43rd out of 45 in the 10m air pistol discipline.
But merely qualifying for London 2012 was an incredible achievement, not least because handguns remain illegal in this country since the Dunblane massacre.
The 1997 laws meant pistol shooters were banned from training in the UK and Geikie had to travel to Switzerland just to use one.
But with the Olympics on the horizon, two years ago the Government gave special dispensation to a smattering of ranges to allow pistol shooting.
As one of a small group of elite shooters, Geikie is able to own a pistol, but since 2010 she has held down two jobs, as a barmaid and waitress, while ferrying herself to and from the ranges to train.
Yet she is ready to go through it all again and have another crack in four years’ time.
“I’ll look back at the Games with a massive smile on my face, I’ve achieved a lifetime’s ambition,” she said.
“The trouble is now I’ve got here I really want to get gold. I’m very much looking forward to the next four-year cycle. That’s the target. Having been here and got the t-shirt, now I want the medal round my neck on the top of the podium.
“This discipline, sport pistol, is really hard. There are only certain places I can train, one in Dorset and another in Bisley, Surrey, and I live in Devon!
“So it’s not easy, especially when all my competitors can train at their local club range.
“It takes a lot of dedication from myself and people around me. I travel all over the place - I live in my car.
"If there’s something you want to achieve in life you’ll do your utmost to make it happen and here I am, in my GB kit, having competed at the Olympics.
“I hope I’ve done GB proud, it's an achievement getting here.”
Geikie may not have been among the medals but she has certainly not gone unnoticed - in some quarters being branded ‘Britain’s Lara Croft’.
“That’s just a bit of fun,” she added. “I try to show I’m a fit, athletic person competing in my sport, and that shooting is a great sport to get into.”
Click here to hear from Peter Wilson ahead of his Double Trap comp.
