Ed Ling believes it could be a case of third time lucky at next summer's Rio Olympics.
Ling is part of a six-strong Team GB shooting squad confirmed this week and can't wait for another Olympic appearance following his previous outings in Athens and London.
He was just 21 when he made his debut in 2004, finishing 25th in the men's trap event, while eight years later he ranked 21st.
But a silver medal at last year's World Championships in Grenada gives the 32-year old hope that age and experience could be decisive in the heat of Rio.
"My first Olympics was just a huge learning curve and I was really pleased with how I performed in London, even though I didn't quite make it on the last round," he said.
"Since London I've had some good successes. I've had big wins before but to win a silver medal at the World Championships, it really gave me self-belief. I know that on my day that I can really compete with the best of the best and challenge for the medals.
"When I first started shooting you could almost name who was going to make the finals but now there are so many countries that are competitive and the number of people shooting high scores has gone up and up and up. The standard now is so much more impressive and that makes it only harder to win.
"To go to a third Olympic Games is something I never expected and it's a real achievement.
"It's the pinnacle of your career but I'm trying to approach it like another event. Once you stand on your station, you have to turn off all the emotion of it being the Olympics and just allow your experience to kick in and perhaps that's going to be easier at the third attempt.
"I'm going out there to break clays but if I hit form like I know I can, it will be a good day."
Securing an early selection means Ling will tailor his competition and training programme over the next ten months to peaking when it matters.
And he'll get a first look at the National Shooting Centre in Deodoro at next April's test event.
"I'm looking forward to seeing what the place is like, it should be a really good eye opener," he added.
"Shooting is not like some sports where a venue is really important - a range is a range at the end of the day but backdrops can make a big difference, so it's going to be a really important event to give us a feel for everything."
Meet the rest of the shooting team here...
Sportsbeat 2015