Olympic Challenge No.12: Air pistol with Georgina Geikie

As I stand at my "firing point" behind a table, the central part of the target appears to be roughly the size of a light switch. I confidently take aim then watch in dismay as the gun veers off to one side the moment I move one finger to squeeze the trigger. The resulting shot is embarrassingly off base - but apparently that's because I'm committing the biggest faux pas of shooting: looking at the target.

"Once you've learned the basic technique, shooting is 95 per cent a mental discipline," says 26-year-old Georgina Geikie from Exeter, who is the British number one ladies air pistol shooter and hopes to compete for Team GB in London 2012.

"It goes against human nature not to look at what you're shooting. Conversely, to achieve a good shot you have to train yourself to focus on lining up the two sights at the front and back of the gun rather than the target itself." Even the tiniest misalignment of these sights will lead to a shot that barely grazes the outer rim of the target.

To ensure this becomes second nature under the pressure of major competitions, Georgina trains for 30 hours a week, which she fits in around two waitressing jobs.

From 7.30am, she'll spend an hour and a half "dry shooting" without pellets, aiming at a wall to perfect her technique. After work, there's a two- hour strength and conditioning session to get through, followed by more technical work firing live shots at a shooting range until 9.30pm.

"I need to have complete body strength to help me stay motionless when shooting," says Geikie, who does high repetitions of shoulder presses, dumbbell raises and squats with 4kg weights while standing on a Bosu ball to challenge her balance and improve her core stability. "Good aerobic capacity is also essential for me to control and lower my heart rate so I can shoot the perfect shot."

The 15.6cm-wide target is made up of 11 circles - the five innermost are black, the remainder white. In the 2012 qualifying round, a maximum of 10 points will be available for striking the innermost two circles.

Her gun, a Steyr LP10 air pistol that she uses with .177 calibre pellets, has been modified to mould to her hand. It may only weigh 1kg but holding the pistol away from the body for the 40 shots she'll need to complete within 75 minutes during next year's Olympic qualifying round - each one taking around 20 seconds - you can imagine how your arm starts to flag.

Having fired her first shot at the age of five when taking part in the local Pony Club pentathlon (running, swimming, fencing, shooting and riding), she's had plenty of time to practise.

"Since I was four years old I've wanted to represent my country in sport. The Olympic Games is the ultimate pinnacle," she says.

I'm wearing Geikie's shoes (they're completely flat-bottomed to help her maintain stability and stay motionless) and glasses (which have a blind
over the left eye and a small lens in the right that slightly magnifies the sights on the pistol, allowing her to take a clearer aim).

As I "dry fire", the sensors of Geikie's training machine sync the gun barrel and the target to a computer nearby. The point at which my shots would have hit the target (or not) appear on the screen.

I stand with my feet shoulder-width apart at right angles to the target. Holding but not gripping the gun in my dominant right hand (imagine the pressure of a handshake), with my arm outstretched, I raise it at a 45-degree angle. Then line up the sights.

I take a breath in and out to steady myself as I lower the pistol downwards through the target. Looking down the barrel, I stop as the black sights reach the white section of the target and watch as my hand wobbles. I'm obviously far too much of a fidget to make it in shooting.

Georgina Geikie is a LloydsTSB Local Hero.

Georgina Geikie

Age: 26.
Home town: Exeter.
Measuring up: Height 172cm, weight 58kg.
Relationship status: single.
Training hours: 30 hours a week.
Sporting bling: A bronze at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne. She also holds the national record for scoring 386 out of 400 points at the 2008 National Championships.
Starting block: Won the 2004 Junior International Championships.
Olympic dream: "To produce a performance during the 2012 Games that would win me a medal."