Shawna Pendry is adopting a 'nothing to lose' attitude after making her Olympic debut at Milano Cortina 2026.
The biathlete made her bow at the Games in the women's 15km individual on Wednesday and finished 88th overall, after a difficult time on the range.
The 23-year-old, who is from Matlock, missed a total of seven targets, including four in her final round of shooting, but calmed her nerves to hit the fifth and returned to the course to with ambitions to not let her disappointment take over.
Instead, her Olympic debut ended with nothing but joy, and a quick kiss to the crowd.
“It started pretty good," she said. "I set off and there were quite a few people still on the course, so that was really nice.
“On the first three shootings I missed one each time. It wasn't great, but not terrible, but then I got to the last shooting and messed it up completely.
“I missed four and thought ‘Oh my God, I can't miss all five’, but I managed to get the last one in.
“I had nothing to lose at that point, so I was smiling and waving at people at the finish.
“My shooting coach was in the crowd, so I blew her a little kiss."
Pendry crossed the line of the 15km in a time of 54 minutes and six seconds, which was 12 minutes and 50.4 down on eventual winner Julia Simon of France.
An impressive first section saw her at a best of 74th after the second round of shooting but the field pulled away and she ended further down the standings.
Pendry saw back-to-back clean shooting outings on the World Cup circuit before Christmas, and so despite the score in Italy, the biathlete admitted that there is definitely more in tank ahead of the women's sprint race on Saturday.
"It's still the Olympics and I still get to become an Olympian," she said. "And we still have the sprint race, so it's not all over.
“I'll take it as a warm up and hope I can do better, especially because the shooting has been going really well this season, so I should be confident enough to be able to pick it back up."
Pendry is now hoping to soak up the atmosphere in her days off at the Antholz-Anterselva Biathlon Arena, having got the initial jitters out of the way.
She added: “I was so nervous before the race, but now it's out the way and I can really enjoy the atmosphere."
Sportsbeat 2026