ALISTER ALLAN won Olympic shooting bronze and silver in 1984 and 1988. But for his sport kow-towing to Thatcher's boycott request in 1980, the feisty Fifer might have had the match set. He has never forgiven the Iron Lady for the fact that gold went for less in Moscow than the world record score he had recently set.

Allan has won more Commonwealth Games medals than any Scot in any sport, but is now national coach in New Zealand. Yet 20 years after his last GB Olympic appearance, Allan still influences the trigger finger of Jonathan Hammond, the only Scottish marksman on the British team in China.

Hammond, from the hamlet of Bridge of Canny near Banchory - via West Virginia - competes in three disciplines: air rifle, small-bore prone, and small-bore three-position (standing, kneeling, prone).

And though Hammond started in Ardvreck, a Crieff prep school, at the age of nine, he said yesterday that he owes a great deal to Allan. "He coached me for four years, up to 2003, until I went to university in the USA. He has a strong personality and a knack of rubbing up people the wrong way, but we got on great. I loved being coached by him," he said.

The 27-year-old now works as a professional coach himself, at his former alma mater, the University of West Virginia, in Morgan Town. His coach now is a Finn, Kimmi Yli-Jaskari, and one or other commutes monthly across the Atlantic.

Hammond was the novice of the GB junior team when he won the World Junior prone title in Barcelona, in 1998. "I'd had just a few internationals and nobody expected it," he said. "I improved by five points. It opened so many doors. It helped me through university, and rifles, clothing and ammunition."

He reckons to shoot 20,000 rounds a year: close to £3500 annually up in smoke if he paid for it. But his status gives lottery support, and sponsorship from Eley.

As a kid, he would dry-fire (without ammunition) for hours or fire his air rifle at a 10-metre target from half way down the hall, into the games room. "I'd a wee pellet-catcher on the wall," he recalls.

He starts on Sunday with the air rifle. The bull, 10 metres away, is the size of the full stop at the end of this sentence. In the smallbore, it's slightly smaller than a five-pence piece, and 50m away. The prone, a week tomorrow, is his best discipline, but half the field of 55 are capable of winning, and he'd need a lifetime best to have a podium chance.

Considering he'd virtually given up shooting 20 months ago, it's extraordinary. After graduating he took a full time job organising golf tournaments. "I didn't do much training for about two years."

Then the university coaching job came up. He is stunned by the speed of his return. "I was targeting London 2012. But the Delhi and Glasgow Commonwealth Games are important to me. I'd love to do two or three Olympics."

Allan used to describe his sport as "like watching paint dry," but electronics has changed that. Scores go up instantly, and there's now a shoot-out for the top eight.

"It's a spectator sport now," says Jonathan. The final is a 10-shot duel in the sun. Each person fires one round each, and knows exactly what everyone has done.

Hammond qualified as a GB marksman for the Games with a personal best of 597 for fourth at last year's European Championships in Granada, then held off the challenge of Aberdeen's Neil Stirton. His Bon Accord clubmate, however, arrives here this week with Scottish coach Donald McIntosh on a programme to blood future Olympians.