She tried to smile, but in the end Suzy Balogh couldn't fight back the tears as she was swamped with emotion after the women's trap final at the Olympic Games.
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It wasn't the agonising final where she went from medal contender to fifth place which triggered the tears.
It was the realisation that she'd ''proved a point to myself'' that the 39-year-old could still compete against the world's best shooters.
Balogh still pays for her own ammunition. She took 150 flights around Australia between her two jobs to fund her Olympic qualifying campaign. And as she walked off the range at the Royal Artillery Barracks, the enormity of her journey and her hard work hit home.
''You can't come to a Games and not enjoy it,'' Queanbeyan's Balogh said as tears rolled down her cheeks.
''The reality is sport is unpredictable, you live off the adrenaline rush … I need it.
''I'm an emotional person, I cry watching Days of our Lives and the news … this was just to prove it to myself that I'm not too old or too talentless, I really can mix it with the best and be a part of it.
''My dad calls me the 'mileage kid' … I had to work my butt off to fund myself and I'm still paying for rounds to practice here [in London]. When you're handed these things … I don't think you realise it's as sweet as it is.''
Balogh won the trap gold medal at the Athens Olympics in 2004.
She missed selection for Beijing four years ago. Her London campaign was about proving people wrong. When she shot brilliantly in the first three qualifying rounds, Balogh was on the cusp of rising from the Olympic shadows to claim another medal.
She was third going into the six-shooter final and had missed just three of her 75 shots, even in horrendous and wet conditions. But it all went wrong when she missed four of her first 10 targets. In an instant she dropped out of medal contention, but that didn't matter.
Italy's Jessica Rossi won gold when she shot 99 from 100 to also claim a world record.
Just 18 months ago Balogh was considering retirement because she felt like she was no longer shooting at an international standard.
Now she's torn. With the Commonwealth Games looming in 2014 and a Rio still a possibility in 2016, Balogh doesn't know whether she wants to give it a way or keep improving.
''When you think about it, I shot one less target than I did to win a gold medal in Athens,'' Balogh said.
''I don't have plans of retirement, I don't think I had a bad day … I just need some sleep.
''I was having a heart attack in that last round … from here I'm just going to reassess whether I want to continue, maybe it's time to not be selfish and think about family.''
Perhaps the definitive factor in Balogh's final was the change of format. Competitors are allowed to use two shots to hit the clay target. But when the final rolls around, it changes to one shot to make it more exciting.
''Did you see my last round? It doesn't get much more exciting than that,'' she said.
''I don't think it was nerves, I think it was being out of timing … my heart was in my mouth but you have to thrive on that.''