Mhairi Spence cannot contemplate missing out on London 2012. Having endured the disappointment of not making the Great Britain team for Beijing in spite of achieving the qualifying standard, the Inverness athlete has set her sights on a home Olympics - and nothing will stand in her way.

She knows it will be every bit as tough to make the GB team this time with only two athletes qualifying and up against the likes of England's Heather Fell, the silver medallist in Beijing, and fellow-Scot Freyja Prentice, who is currently ranked top of the world junior rankings.

There was some consolation for Spence in that she travelled to Beijing as an observer as part of Britain's Olympic Ambition programme but it only served to whet her appetite. 

"It was an amazing experience. We went out to the holding camp in Macau and saw all around there and how things worked and then we all got to go to Beijing and spend a bit of time in the Olympic village and experience a snippet of what was to come in London," she recalls.

"It was a great idea as it made it all quite real. It was a big sporting event and we were there experiencing it and made us want to be there for real next time. It was a bit of a teaser in one sense of something we could achieve in future and it really pushed me and motivated me more."

But Spence concedes it was a difficult time when the reality of not competing in Beijing hit home: "It was a really tough time for me, mentally. I did qualify but I was in the third place for my country and only two compete.

"It knocked my confidence a lot and took me quite a while to dig deep and find that inner strength to try again. I don't think words can describe how disappointed I really was that I didn't compete.

"But two girls were better than me and they deserved to compete there. Being in that situation of sheer desperation and disappointment made me feel I didn't want to be there again. So I'm doing everything humanly possible to make sure I'm not in that position again next year."

Spence, who is based full-time at Bath University where she has access to top-class facilities on a daily basis, started the year bang in form with a silver medal at the first World Cup event of the season in Palm Springs.

She is in the three-strong GB team for the World Cup final in July (along with Fell and Prentice) and also has the European Championships in England and the World Championships in Moscow on the agenda.

There is a rivalry between all the GB squad (there are currently five girls in the world's top 30) but Spence insists there is also a camaraderie.

"As a squad of girls we get on very well," she continues, "We're lucky that we have quite a good relationship as a squad. Yes, we're all fighting for those two places but we also understand that whoever makes it to the Games needs to be in the best shape possible as we have to carry on our funding from UK Sport for the next four years.

"Our sport depends on our success at the Olympic Games so as much as 100 per cent I want to be there, I will also support other athletes if I'm not to make sure we have a future for our sport." 

Spence is big on sports psychology and argues that it is an important part of a sport which features five different disciplines although the running and shooting have recently been combined. Lasers have also taken the place of pellets in another major change.

"On competition day, you really have to be strong-minded and I work closely with a psychologist who makes sure I have set profiles for each sport and makes sure I focus on each one before I move to the next one.

"I have a very good relationship with my psychologist and since Beijing, I've worked a lot harder with her and that has been a big help to my performance.

"I'm mentally in a different place and much more in control of myself and of my performance. It's a great support and sometimes it's good just to have someone to talk to, particularly when things get a little tough.

"All athletes have a fear of failure and, in my eyes, I did fail. But the fear is not there anymore because I've been there and I came back from it and I know it made me stronger. I'm not prepared to fail this time - I know where I went wrong and that is going to make all the difference this time around.

"In 2009, we changed to the combined run-shoot and that was a big challenge. Changing to laser guns has not been quite as big a change and that's been a bit of a relief. I'd been position shooting from since I was a young girl and then it was suddenly a case of shooting as fast as you could and that was a big change. 

"There have been some technical problems and at the Italian World Cup I had a malfunction in the semi-final and had to use a different gun.

"For anyone who has tried shooting, they will know that you get used to a gun and you can't just pick up any gun and shoot as you have to feel the weight.

"It was a bit of a stressful situation but just one of those things with technology that sometimes you'll have problems and you just have to deal with them as best you can and make the best of a bad situation."

Whatever the next year holds, Spence does not see herself going for another Olympics after 2012: 

"I'll be 27 when it comes to the Olympic Games and I've been doing this sport full-time for nine or ten years now and it does take its toll on the body.

"I really hope I achieve this dream so I can move on to achieving a new one."

RM

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