October Rising Star: Georgina Geikie
Age: 26
From: Okehampton
Sport: Shooting
Fresh from a successful Commonwealth Games in Delhi where she won the second bronze medal of her career, this month’s Rising Star is Britain’s number one women’s air pistol shooter, Georgina Geikie.
Georgina’s bronze medal in Delhi was won in the women’s 25m air pistol pairs alongside her partner Julia Lydall. It follows her first from the same event at the Melbourne Games in 2006 and confirms her promise for the 2012 Olympics in London.
But she doesn’t take this success for granted. On her website, after winning the bronze medal in Delhi, Georgina wrote:
“Upon firing my final shot Julia rushed over saying ‘look look’, pointing above my head. Still being ‘in the zone’ I must have had looked a little confused! Julia pointed again at the score board – ‘England Bronze’ - we’d done it! Bouncing around like giant red space hoppers! Job done!”
Georgina is currently supported by SportsAid through the Lloyds TSB’s Local Heroes programme, which has helped her overcome some of the financial pressure she’s faced when competing in her sport.
“Sponsorship enables me to continue training and competing nationally and internationally,” she says. This includes regular 200-mile journeys to Bisley and Bedford and flights to compete overseas roughly once a month, not to mention the 27 hours of training she does in a typical week.
The hard work is clearly paying off though. As well as her two bronze medals from the Commonwealth Games, Georgina currently holds the national records for senior air pistol and senior sport pistol: results which set her sights firmly on our home Olympics in two years’ time.
“If I could win one tournament it would be the London 2012 Olympics,” she told SportsAid recently.
“Ever since I can remember I have wanted to compete for Great Britain at the Olympics. When London was announced as the venue for 2012, this just added to my dream! And furthermore, I believe I can win gold.”
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SportsAid, previously known as SportsAid Foundation (SAF), was founded in 1976. Its principal function was to raise funds from the private sector to provide financial assistance to Britain's amateur sportsmen and women. The aim was to help them prepare for competitions against better-funded, overseas athletes.
