BRITISH archer Naomi Folkard admitted nerves cost her place in the quarter-finals of the women’s individual event.

The 24-year-old from Kidderminster was 26-24 behind her Japanese opponent Nami Hayakawa after the first end but was undone by a slip up in the second as she shot 19 compared to Hayakawa’s 26.

This proved to be the turning point in the match and despite launching a comeback late on, outscoring her opponent in the fourth end; she crashed to a 106-97 defeat and with it her Olympic medal dream ended.

The Dunlop archer admitted she was disappointed with her performance and was close to giving up after her poor start in a contest watched by Princess Anne.

She said: “I’m devastated with that,” said Folkard, who finished 11th in Athens in 2004.

“I didn’t shoot my best and I think I allowed my nerves to affect me more than I should have. I brought it back for the last two ends and I felt a lot stronger and perhaps if I had started like that then I would have been happy.

“I felt like giving up after the second end but my coach told me to keep smiling and shoot strong.

“So I did and I turned myself around and kept fighting. I had no idea the Princess was watching.”

Folkard was part of the women’s team that narrowly missed out on a bronze medal on Sunday and she responded in the individual event with solid performances over Egypt’s Soha Abed Elaal and Britain’s Charlotte Burgess to reach the last 16.

Despite an early exit, Folkard was upbeat about her performances in the competition and said she will now take on a cheerleading role for Team GB.

She said: “I can take a lot of positives from the competition.

“In general I have been shooting well and I handled the first two matches. I think I have gained a lot of experience here for London 2012 and all the other international matches in between.

“I am going to continue my full-time training until London and I don’t know what I will do after that.

“I have enjoyed the whole Olympic experience. I have a couple more days before I go home and I will try and catch some sports, see some cycling and some athletics.”

Lloyds TSB, proud first partner of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games and supporter of Team GB on their journey to 2012. Visit www.LloydsTSB.com/London2012