BRITISH number one lady pistol shooter Georgina Geikie from West Devon has outlined her training regime in preparation for her bid to be on target for the 2012 London Olympics.
Georgie, who is sponsored by Chagford based firm Helpful Holidays, said: 'I do three or four hours a day of fitness training, which could be a mixture of working out in the gym, running and even horseriding. I shoot for 1.5 hours per day. But there's a lot more to it than that – shooting is 95% psychology.
'You have to train your body and mind to react under pressure exactly as you want them to – to simply fire a shot. To do that you have to be completely in the moment, keep it as simple as possible. That's not as easy as it sounds – when the pressure's on, and noise is all around, absolute clarity and concentration is so important.'
After winning a bronze medal in Delhi, Gorgs' sights are understandably firmly set on London 2012.
'If I could win one tournament it would be the London 2012 Olympics. I'll be competing in international competitions and world cups next year in order to qualify for Team GB – final selections are made at the start of 2012. It won't be easy though – there's only space for one from my event. But I can do it - I believe I can win gold,' she said.
Gorgs' task has been made tougher with the news that funding has been reduced, meaning she has to rely heavily on sponsors to pay for her travel and training costs.
Sponsorship enables me to continue training and competing nationally and internationally. The first event next year is in Australia, so costs for that are quite high. All help is really gratefully received – without it I wouldn't be able to continue competing."
Helpful Holidays said it is 'proud to be a sponsor of such an exciting and dedicated young talent and wishes Gorgs the very best for 2011 – and of course 2012!'