BLACKWOOD shooter Elena Allen insisted she could leave Rio with her head held high despite bowing out of the skeet competition in qualifying, writes Ben Baker.

After having to wait seven days to get her 2016 Olympic Games assault underway, Allen is now already thinking about packing her bags.

That’s because she could only manage a score of 64 in Friday’s skeet qualifying which saw her finish 14th and five points off one of the top six spots that would have seen her progress to the final.

She bookended her competition by hitting 23 of a possible 25 targets in both her opening and closing rounds, but a score of 18 in between did the damage.

However, 44-year-old Allen was full of praise for her Brazilian adventure, which was made all the more memorable as she was joined by husband, and coach, Malcolm Allen.

“[In the second round] I just struggled to get my rhythm, I realised the wind was strong and was trying to shoot in it but I just found it incredibly difficult,” she said.

“I do believe I shot as well as I could in the conditions. Maybe I could have hit one or two more but there are always one or two more. I do feel I have given it my best, I never gave up on any of the targets.

“Being part of Team GB is always great because you get a lot of support and it was great having preparation time in Belo Horizonte.

“The shooting team have been wonderful and very supportive. They allowed my husband [Malcolm Allen], at the last minute, to get an accreditation so he could be here with me.

“My coach is my husband and he has a full-time job and does this in his spare time.”

Allen might be getting sick of the number 14, considering this the position she finished at Beijing 2008 as well as in London four years later.

But undeterred she is adamant that her love for the sport is not dwindling despite seeing another Olympic final pass her by.

“I might be showing emotion but I don’t actually feel disappointed not to have made the final,” she added. “I am shooting exceptionally well.

“London 2012 I found very tough to cope with, it took me eight months to pick up a shotgun and I don’t feel that. I would be happy to go and shoot now.”

Aldi is the first Official Supermarket partner of Team GB and has been championing our nation’s extraordinary athletes on their Road to Rio and encouraging the public to tuck into fresh, affordable, Great British food. For more information visit aldi.co.uk