Army pistol shooting prodigy aiming high ahead of Junior World Cup appearance

Army target pistol athlete Sapper Emilia Faulkner is set to represent Great Britain in two events at the Junior Shooting World Cup in Granada, Spain.

The Scottish international sharpshooter has high hopes going into the event, where she'll aim to do well in her favourite discipline, the Women's Air Pistol and the Mixed Teams Air Pistol.

Speaking to BFBS Sport from her training base in Bisley, Spr Faulkner says she's aiming to perform at her "personal best".

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She said: "I would like to perform at my personal best. I feel like that is the level I am shooting at right now and that's where I'd like to see myself."

In 2023, Spr Faulkner bagged a Junior World Cup bronze medal in the Mixed Teams Air Pistol event, a result that she says has given her a boost in her self-belief.

"It definitely gives me a boost in my self-belief," she acknowledges. "Knowing that this hard work that I've been putting in, it does pay off and it's a nice feeling."

With Paris 2024 perhaps coming a little too early for the Army shooting star, Spr Faulkner has her eyes firmly set on competing at the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.

She said: "This is part of the big preparation for it, just going to these major international competitions really sets me up as well."

The Junior Shooting World Cup in Granada, Spain, runs from 10-18 February.