GEORGINA Geikie is taking the hard route to Rio but the Okehampton shooter admits the disappointment of London 2012 is driving her on to the next Olympics.

The 28-year-old was outside of the medal positions in both the 10m air pistol and 25m pistol events at London 2012 last summer – finishing 47th and 37th respectively.

After having most of her funding removed after the Games, it appeared that Geikie's dreams of one day delivering an Olympic medal for Britain were all but over.

But after setting up her own business, G4G Pursuits, and impressing at last month's ESSU Championships she's determined to work her way through the dark times.

'It's been tough after London, a lot of my funding has been cut which impacts on my ability to focus on shooting full-time,' said Geikie, who won the 25m air sport pistol event at the ESSU Champion-ships. But there's three years to go until Rio, and it's about laying the foundations before that for me. London was an amazing experience, but I was really disappointed with how I performed, and that is what is driving me towards Rio.

'I know I can achieve a level much higher than what I showed in London, and that has fuelled my enthusiasm to carry on. I would have carried on in any case, London was my first Olympics and now I've had a taste I want more.

'If I'd have won gold things would have been different anyway, I would have had a lot more funding and I could have taken a different approach.

'But now I've got to keep my eyes open and feet on the ground, my life choices are such that I have to do different things around my shooting, so it's tough.'

With money tight Geikie has been forced to scrap the international calendar and focus entirely on the domestic events this term.

But with the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow next summer fast approaching, the two-time bronze medallist is looking to maintain her impressive record.

'It would be nice to do well in Glasgow, and everything starts to build up to that from September really,' added Geikie, who won bronze in the 10m air pistol pairs at Melbourne 2006 and again came third in Delhi four years later – this time in the 25m discipline. I'll be able to focus more and more on my training the closer it gets, which will hopefully see an improvement in my performances.'

Lloyds TSB Local Heroes, in partnership with SportsAid, has supported 1,000 of Britain's most talented developing athletes. As part of Lloyds TSB's commitment to helping future sports stars prosper, the programme will continue in 2013.

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