British shooter Georgina Geikie leaves room for improvement

British shooter Georgina Geikie hopes the experience of today's 10-metre air pistol competition will stand her in good stead for her favoured event.

The 27-year-old barmaid from Devon was a long way from reaching the Olympic final, which was won by China's Guo Wenjun, as she finished 47th out of 49 competitors.

But despite a performance well below what she had hoped for, it did not dampen Geikie's enthusiasm as she prepares for Wednesday's 25m event.

"My target of experiencing starting an Olympic competition has been achieved," she told Press Association Sport.

"I feel like I've been there now and that I'm ready for Wednesday, which is my strongest event.

"My performance did not match my ability in any way, shape or form, but it's all about maintaining what you can do under pressure and coping with those emotions.

"Today was not my main event, so it's about enjoying the experience and taking that experience forward to Wednesday."

For Team GB team-mate Elena Allen, the wait will be much longer.

The 40-year-old was distraught after she was eliminated from the skeet event in the qualifying rounds.

Allen, the 2005 World Cup winner who was born in Russia and lives in Wales, finished in 14th place with a score of 60 points.

She said: "Disappointed isn't the word to describe how I feel.

"Coming into the competition I'd be the first to admit that I was on top form. I was shooting extremely well over the last four or five weeks and particularly coming close to this event.

"It was a really bad day at the office and it just wasn't good enough. I now need to make sure I'm ready for Rio in four years' time."

Allen admitted the crowd noise and the pressure of being on home soil got to her in the competition that eventually saw American Kimberly Rhode win gold with a world record-equalling score of 99.

"The only time we get to experience the crowd and the noise is when we have these big competitions and unfortunately the pressure got to me," Allen added.

"This is the nature of the sport, it rips your heart out most of the time. It's a mental sport, most of us can shoot but it's who can deal with the pressure best."

PA