WITH THE pressure of competing at a home Games looming over them at London 2012, some British athletes might go into their shell, not wanting the occasion to get the better of them.

But not Georgina Geikie, the South Tawton shooter who this week admitted she is already in the capital in her mind, taking it all in ahead of doing it for real in a matter of days' time.

The 27-year-old has long been the one to watch at Royal Artillery Barracks, Woolwich, this summer, earning an extra spot for Great Britain last year when she finished the women's 25m pistol event 13th at the European Championships.

This year Geikie also carried the Olympic Torch through Devon, showing that for her there is no escaping London 2012.

But Gorgs, as she is known, admits she wouldn't have it any other way, revealing she has been living the Olympic dream in her head for some time, chomping at the bit to add her body to the mix this summer.

She said: 'We've done the hard work and we've got that behind us so it's all about polishing that diamond and making our performance as best we can.

'Not going over the top on training and making sure we get a good balance of rest and keeping fresh, and keeping such a psychological balance is very important, but at the same time, honing our techniques and visualising.

'I'm doing a lot of visualisation because I know what the venue is going to look like and with all the people telling me what tickets they have got, you can almost imagine seeing friendly faces around the crowd.

'I'm using a lot of environmental visualisation to prepare myself for the competition itself.'

Gorgs will be making her Olympic debut in London, having won 10m air pistol pairs at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne and then finishing third in 25m air pistol pairs four years later in Delhi.

But despite being a newbie to the Olympic competition, she insists she is not just going to London 2012 to make up the numbers.

She said: 'I think I'm in the competition so I can win it. That's the simple way to say it.

'I'm thoroughly keeping my feet on the ground.

'I want to go perform and do a personal best because at the end of the day, all I can do is my very best. If that's good enough on the day, then I'll be good enough on the day.

'Realistically there are a lot of fantastic athletes around the world — this is the Olympic Games and getting a gold medal is not an easy feat.'

Lloyds TSB Local Heroes, in partnership with SportsAid, provides support and funding to 346 of Britain's most talented developing athletes on their journey to London 2012 and beyond. Since 2008, the programme has supported 1,000 athletes.

Follow them at facebook.com/lloydstsblocalheroes