Italian shooter Petra Zublasing has suggested that her gold medal win in the women's 50m rifle three positions at the European Games will give her confidence going into Rio 2016.
The world number two fired herself to a finals points world record in order to cruise past France's Laurence Brize, who was left to claim silver in Baku.
"Of course I'm thinking about Rio 2016. Even the day after the Olympics I already think of the next Olympics," Zublasing told reporters.
"This gold medal just gives me a lot of confidence because lately I've changed and tried a lot of different materials - the rifle itself, the shoes, other small details. Everything having the Olympics in my mind.
"Now I know that these changes work for me. That's the difference between the good shooters and the intermediate ones. The good ones manage to find their set-up and they stick to it. I'm going to stick to these new changes from now on, and this gold proves that work just fine for me."
Italy currently hold 11th spot in the medals table with three gold, six silver and one bronze accolade.
Christopher Dodd
