Her journey to reach this point has been a circuitous one.

Natural – perhaps hereditary – talent has blended with hard graft to overcome repeated health challenges and establish McIntosh as one of the world’s best.

Before her sister’s successes, dad Donald and mum Shirley were Commonwealth Games shooters themselves. Not that it looked like Seonaid would follow their paths.

“We were never pushed towards shooting, in fact Seonaid never wanted to do it for a long time,” Jen tells BBC Sport.

“We are quite similar, quite competitive, so that made things like board games interesting at times.

“She says it like it is and yet she was very much an old soul, always had a bit of a plan, was quite shy at times, a bit awkward now and again, but very mature.”

That plan looked like being a musical one. Like her sister, Seonaid went to Dollar Academy and became part of the school pipe band, run by Craig Stewart.

And it just so happened that Stewart was also the school’s shooting team coach.

“Seonaid is not a big lass but she would carry this tenor drum that is 20 inches in circumference and try to march in time with strapping young lads at 6ft 2in with strides like giraffes,” he recalls.

“She was is in the middle of the band trying to keep up, but she never complained. She is fantastic musician – she plays the drum kit as well – and was a world champion in piping and drumming with us.”

Such was her talent that, at one stage, there was even talk of McIntosh going to prestigious music schools in the United States, explained dad Donald.

“Music was her thing and that was the route she followed for quite a long time,” he told BBC Sport.

Portugal’s talisman experienced every emotion imaginable in 120 minutes.

He is still yet to score at Euro 2024 and was in the spotlight throughout the match, showing his emotions and frustrations as he missed numerous chances.

His entrance had been greeted with a huge roar from the Portugal fans – the same supporters who chanted his name when his penalty was saved by Oblak.

At the other end, Slovenian supporters jeered, let off flares, banged drums and celebrated each time his efforts missed the target.

Despite 20 shots on goal in the tournament – the most by any player – he is yet to find the net. To make matters worse, he has missed three of his nine penalties at major tournaments.

“We all know that Cristiano is the hardest worker,” said goalkeeper Costa, who was the hero on the night.

“I understand how frustrated he is because he devotes all his time to this. It’s a pleasure and an honour to be on the same team as him.

“We’re a family, I really think this. I focus on making the best of these chances and I wanted to help the team. This is the most important thing.

“This is probably the best game of my life.”

As his frustration grew through the night, Ronaldo fell to his knees, looking at the sky, pleading for luck to come his way.

He roared in frustration and air-punched the ground when crosses flew over his head, as he tried everything to become the oldest goalscorer at a European Championship.

With every free-kick that came and went, he has now scored just one of the 60 direct free-kicks he has attempted at major international tournaments, the desperation grew.

Later, he turned to supporters and waved his arms frantically, asking for more noise and praying for them to not give up.

When his spot-kick was saved, Portugal fans sang “Viva Ronaldo” after his emotional outburst was shown on the big screen in the Frankfurt Arena.

Former Scotland winger Pat Nevin reacted in disbelief on BBC Radio 5 Live: “He missed a penalty kick. He shouldn’t be in tears.”

But when he eventually scored in the shootout, there were no flamboyant celebrations, just a nod to the fans behind the goal and an apology.

“It’s hard enough going up to take a penalty anyway, but taking one in that situation when you’ve just missed a penalty at such a crucial time… unbelievable,” said former England striker Alan Shearer on BBC One.

“This is why they are great players – because they have great mental strength.

“I think there are a couple of occasions where 10 years ago there’s no doubt he would have got on the end of it. It has been a Ronaldo show, though, hasn’t it?”

Former Arsenal defender Martin Keown, added: “Psychologically, we saw the tears and we saw the professionalism [to step up and score in the penalty shootout].

“It was remarkable from Costa. They relied upon him. Cristiano Ronaldo… It wasn’t about him tonight. It was about that man [Costa].”

Not so long ago, the professional cycling world’s approach to fuelling was remarkably basic.

Options for riders barely extended beyond a monotonous menu of pasta, rice or whatever fare that night’s hotel kitchen decided to serve up.

These days, it is an entirely different prospect, with vast sums spent on custom-built food trucks, personalised nutrition apps and meticulously-planned meal regimes all in the name of performance enhancement.

For the nutritionists and chefs tasked with providing sustenance to power their team’s riders over 2,170 miles in the coming weeks there are principally two dilemmas: what food to prepare and how to do so in an ever-changing environment.

The answers are gleaned from a year-round process that begins in December during pre-season training.

While the riders are honing their bodies, ready for the multitude of races ahead, the number-crunchers eagerly gather data to better understand their nutritional needs.

“We know their individual bodies, their metabolism, how many calories they burn when resting and exactly what they will do in training, the intensity, how long and how many calories they will burn,” says Visma-Lease a Bike head of nutrition Martijn Redegeld.

“Heart rate plays a role. We have that after each training ride. And at certain points in the season we test lactate measurements and breathing measurements in the lab to develop a good profile of each rider.”

As one of three teams – alongside UAE Team Emirates and Ineos Grenadiers – whose budget tends to dwarf all others, Visma-Lease a Bike has strived to place itself at the forefront of nutritional advancement.

Partnerships with universities aim to ensure they are firmly aware of developments within the field “to keep that competitive edge over other teams”, says Redegeld.

With riders burning an average of 6,000 calories per day during the Tour (around three times more than a resting adult), Visma-Lease a Bike have even begun using Artificial Intelligence to help determine precisely how much – and what type of – food each individual cyclist should consume.

Personalisation has become increasingly paramount, with the team developing its own app,, external where various algorithms are used to generate individualised nutrition plans.

When a rider comes back from a day on the bike, they simply open the app and are told exactly how many grams of each nutritional component (carbohydrates, proteins, fats etc) to put on their plate. No brain power is wasted beyond using the ubiquitous buffet table weighing scales.

While the methods used to generate precise nutritional needs vary between teams, all of them work to a broad five-meal daily plan of breakfast, pre-race snack, on-bike fuelling, recovery meal and dinner.

The core feeding principles remain the same across the peloton, although they are tweaked depending on the upcoming day’s requirements and whether the rider in question is a climber or a sprinter, a domestique or a general classification contender.

Carbohydrates – usually in the form of rice or pasta – serve as the petrol, necessitating painfully high consumption levels.

Proteins – predominantly fish or chicken – are always unprocessed and fibre is kept low to minimise gut irritation and aid digestion, with fruit and vegetables often consumed in juice form.

Vegetarians tend to supplement themselves with protein shakes, in addition to plant-based proteins like tofu and seitan.

Riders might be allowed more vegetables and fibrous foods before flatter race days, when the body will be better equipped to break them down, while red meats are saved as a treat the evening before rest days.

On-bike fuelling comes courtesy of roadside soigneurs who load up musette bags with a variety of high-carbohydrate forms that can be selected or discarded based on personal preference.

Energy bars, gels, drinks and gummies provide quick hits on tough days, while more traditional food sources include wet rice cakes, brioches, jam sandwiches, flapjacks, sweet breads and cakes for easier days.

The required quantities are unenviably vast. Each rider consumes close to 1.5kg of rice or pasta every day and in the region of 120g of carbohydrates per hour when on the bike – the equivalent carbohydrate content of five hourly bananas.

One EF rider once went through four tubs of maple syrup during the three-week race.