Why Snježana Pejcic won’t be preparing for the next Olympics.

An odd statement you may think. You’ve secured your place at the biggest sporting event in the world; you ought to start training straight away, right? However, Croatian shooting legend, Snježana Pejcic, thinks otherwise.

And who are we to disagree? Pejcic is well versed in training for elite competitions and is no stranger to the podium. Throughout her career Pejcic has won 18 World Cup medals, including eight golds and an Olympic bronze in Beijing, 2008.

Most recently she claimed gold in the 50m Rifle 3P event at the ISSF Beijing World Cup in April 2019. Scoring a total of 464 points, Pejcic finished a huge 4.5 points ahead of Korea’s Sang Hee Bar.

“Beijing was the first World Cup this year for me. I was a bit nervous because I had recently changed my equipment from Sauer to Capapie. I’m not a big fan of change! I always worry no matter how good my training is and even when everything is planned well before a competition, I always worry no matter how good my training is. So it’s fair to say I was a bit on edge” said Snježana.

“But I’m thrilled to say it turned out well. Another victory is always great, the result was really good. And of course, after that and one year before the Tokyo Games, everybody has the same question. How will you now prepare for the Olympics?

The simple answer is: I won’t.

I will not prepare now for something that will happen more than one year later. Before the Tokyo Olympics, there will be six World Cups, two European Championships and one European Games – all important competitions.

Of course, the main goal is to be the best prepared for Tokyo. But that doesn’t mean that all the other competitions are not important. I’m taking it step by step, competition by competition. I’m hoping to give my best and want to be happy with my shooting.

Tokyo 2020 will be my 4^th Olympic Games and I started with mental preparations the moment I secured a quota place in Changwon. I learned a lot from the previous Games, especially Rio, so I’m planning to enjoy the Far East and not worry too much. I plan to be as prepared as I can be and the rest will follow.”

You can see Snježana’s journey to Tokyo by following her Instagram page @Sneki137.