Lightfoot vows to race on until Beijing 2022

Five days on from equalling Britain's best-ever female biathlete result in the women's 7.5km sprint, Lightfoot was back on the biathlon course for the rearranged women's 15km individual.

In the aftermath of Saturday's first outing, the 31-year-old had vowed to work on her shooting accuracy to eradicate the errors which had cost her a higher place than 67th.

But unfortunately for the two-time Olympian, it did not translate onto the range on competition day, as four shooting penalties, including three on the final standing stage cost her badly and left her with a 73rd- place finish.

"I'm massively disappointed. I missed three at the end, my nerves got the better of me. I knew I had to hit those targets but when I came in my legs were shaking, my eyes went blurry and I missed those three," she said.

"What could have been a great result and maybe even top ten wasn't to be.

"I'd love to commit to the next Olympics. After Sochi I was devastated with the situation regarding resources and funding but four years on I'm still out there competing as a professional athlete, I've devoted my life to it and I'd love to be given another chance in four years time to show that I can pull it together."

Lightfoot is Britain's sole representative in PyeongChang after no other individual managed to meet the selection criteria.

She has also had to self-fund herself to reach her second Olympics, apparently coughing up £19,000 to keep her on track for the Games.

Lightfoot's fellow British biathlete Scott Dixon resorted to a novel way of raising funds - by publishing children's books as part of a crowd-funding initiative – although he was ultimately unsuccessful in meeting the selection criteria.

It is the sort of hardship which is alien to the world's leading biathlon nations but Lightfoot is confident that the future of the sport in Britain looks brighter than it used to.

"We need to establish a good system that brings new athletes in, have a good coach and a good training system behind us," she added.

"I'm more optimistic now, we've got a new Federation in place that is working really hard to build something.

"It is all very well showing people what we can achieve with nothing, but I hope to get some funding in place and some good results."