Seonaid McIntosh recovers from illness and lost confidence to seal Paris 2024 spot
- Published
Seonaid McIntosh made her Olympic debut at the delayed Tokyo Games in 2021
Scottish shooter Seonaid McIntosh credits returning confidence and good health for her Olympic qualification after a period of illness and doubt.
The 26-year-old made sure of her place at Paris 2024 with a silver medal in the 10m air rifle at the European Championships in Tallinn.
"I really wanted to make the quota at this competition, so I'm extra stoked that I managed to do it," she said.
"It makes the rest of the year less stressful."
McIntosh made her Olympic debut at the delayed Tokyo Games in 2021. However, it was a frustrating experience for the former 50m rifle world champion as she finished 12th and 14th in her events.
"Through Covid I kind of lost my confidence and I hadn't had a chance to build it back up again," she explained. "I was world number one at the time when the Tokyo Olympics should have been happening.
"I was getting more and more in my own head and I was by myself after my flat-mate moved out. I think I just developed depression over time and didn't really realise. When I did get to Tokyo things didn't go to plan and I completely lost confidence. I'd never had to deal with that in shooting before.
"Then I had four to six major illnesses last year that were almost entirely unrelated, so every time I picked myself back up something else hit me. It was just one thing after another.
"It's been really tough for me. I've struggled. But I had a bit of a mindset shift around November and things have been going a lot better. I've felt a lot more like I've wanted to be doing my sport and I've been enjoying training."
McIntosh, who also won a World Cup gold in Cairo in February, has her sights on adding to her collection before the Olympics next year.
"We have the European Games in the summer," she added. "Then the World Championships are coming up. I'm determined to get a medal in one of the Olympic events which would set me up for Paris 2024."