PISTOL shooter Georgina Geikie has set her sights on her next target — the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.

Georgina, known as Gorgs, is Britain's number one lady pistol shooter, and cemented her name in history as a member of Great Britain's best ever Olympic team at London 2012.

A former pupil of South Tawton Primary and Okehampton College, Gorgs competed in the .22 sport pistol and air pistol events during the first week of the Olympics in London. She has now committed herself to aiming for Rio 2016 in over three years' time.

'London was a fantastic learning experience,' said Gorgs. 'There is no way I could have anticipated the emotional intensity of competing as an Olympic athlete, with the honour of representing my country, in front of a home crowd. 

'I worked for years to prepare for those few seconds of absolute focus and concentration. I will take everything I learned at London forward to Rio, and I know I am capable of winning gold in 2016.'

Her sporting career started with Chagford Pony Club at the age of five, then tetrathlon —running, swimming, shooting and riding — and modern pentathlon before concentrating on her main strength of shooting once she finished university.

A true athlete, Gorgs has taken part in competitive sports all her life, including cross country, athletics, county level netball, hockey, and tennis. She also studied fencing so she could take part in modern pentathlon.

As well as representing Team GB at the Olympics, Gorgs was chosen as one of the Olympic torchbearers to carry the flame through Okehampton. She was lucky enough to carry the torch through the town centre just a few days before securing her place in Team GB.

Following her efforts at London 2012, Gorgs is now back into her rigourous training schedule and into competition.

As the sport can offer no funding for competitors, Georgina must fund herself. Despite training all over the world, Gorgs still lives and works in the Okehampton area, juggling several part-time jobs to help fund her training.

The Chagford-based self-catering cottage agency Helpful Holidays have recently signed on to become Gorg's principle platinum sponsor.

Helen Hayes, pr manager for Helpful Holidays, said: 'We've watched Georgina develop as an impressive and committed athlete, and believe she has the talent, determination and ambition to achieve a gold medal for Great Britain in 2016. 

'The West Country can be very proud of her, and at Helpful Holidays, as her principle sponsor for the next four years, we are delighted to be able to help Georgina along the road to Rio.'

Georgina is seeking sponsorship for the next four years to continue shooting and represent Team GB at the 2016 Olympics.

She is more than happy to discuss sponsorship options with anyone interested. Please contact on [email protected]">[email protected] or Helen Hayes at [email protected]">[email protected] for more details.