Shawna Pendry is brewing up a plan to put British biathlon on the map.
The 23-year-old heads to the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games alongside Jacques Jefferies as Team GB’s hopes in the sport that combines cross-country skiing and rifle shooting.
Team GB has never won a biathlon medal in the history of the Winter Olympics and while that may not happen overnight, there are hopes that British representation in Italy can help foster a fresh love for the sport in the UK.
Pendry, who spends time working in her parents’ brewery when not training or competing, wants her Olympic debut to be the catalyst for a new sporting craze.
“I hope people will watch it and like it!” said Pendry, who will compete in the sprint and individual events.
“Anything can happen in biathlon. Someone will be down in sixth and end up winning. Everything changes all the time, so it is really exciting to watch.
“I just want to enjoy it and do some races that I am proud of. That will be enough for me.”
Pendry spent the first four years of her life in Matlock before her family moved to Font-Romeu in the Pyrenees, and it was there that her love for winter sport was fostered.
Pendry first excelled at cross-country skiing before trying her hand at biathlon, and she subsequently represented Team GB at the 2019 European Youth Olympic Winter Festival in Sarajevo and 2020 Winter Youth Olympics in Lausanne.
The 23-year-old has now made the step up to the senior Games, having been made to wait anxiously for news that she had done enough to seal selection just weeks before the action gets underway.
“It’s really exciting. It is a childhood dream,” she said. “I went to the Youth Olympics but now this is the real deal.
“This year it was up to the last minute with selections; I didn’t know if I was going to come.
“It was very stressful because we knew the first races this year would be what determined if we were going or not, so there was quite a lot of pressure.
“You’re trying not to think about it, but it is always there. Once the good races had gone, we were still waiting if we had the wildcard or not.
“You have to start planning but you don’t actually know if you’re going or not.”
If Pendry is ever looking for a distraction, there are always jobs to be done at her parents Angela and Ian’s brewery, which produces beer, gin, and whiskey.
The Brasserie & Distillerie du Mouli boasts the highest distillery in Europe - and now an Olympian working behind the scenes.
“We have got a little deal that if I work there, then they help me with my sporting career,” she explained.
“I am the delivery driver, server, I help with bottling, whatever they need. It gives me a bit of purpose; I am not just an athlete.”
The balance has certainly worked, with Pendry making regular appearances on the World Cup circuit.
There she is rubbing shoulders with the world’s best, many of whom will represent France, but Pendry is proud to be flying the flag for Great Britain.
“When I was little, I properly lost my British side because I was always at school and all my friends were French,” she said.
“These last years racing more and more for Great Britain I have found that British side again which is quite cool.
“It is more of a feeling and being proud of it. At the start I was the British girl and in France people didn’t respect that.
“We are starting to become something and you can be proud of racing for Great Britain in biathlon.”
Sportsbeat 2026