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Grainger: Medal battle
"We don't go out thinking about the ultimate prize - we go out there thinking about how we achieve it."
Katherine Grainger
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Katherine Granger has targeted Britain's first ever women's rowing medal after achieving almost everything else in a boat.
Grainger already has two Olympic silver medals, alongside four world titles and an MBE for services to sport.
Grainger was one of the first British women's rowers to win an Olympic medal as her quad sculls boat won silver in Sydney 2000.
The quad sculls have now won a hat-trick of world titles since Athens and now Grainger believes they are strong enough to go for gold in Beijing.
"We have a lot of confidence from the results we have had in the past," said Grainger.
Performances
"We have had some fantastic performances over the three years but we all know that when we get to the Olympics it will very much be a clean slate.
"We all bring a whole range of the experiences to our races. When we are on the start line we will not be thinking about what has gone before.
"The fact we won the world championships last year, the year before and the year before that doesn't really matter when it comes to the Olympics.
"Getting gold at any Olympics Games is tough - that is why the Olympic challenge is so special. But we have settled into our base camp and have done everything we can.
"We don't go out thinking about the ultimate prize - we go out there thinking about how we achieve it."
Lightweights
Also hoping for glory on the Shunyi lake is the men's lightweight double scullers Mark Hunter and Zac Purchase.
The dup are unbeaten this season and they are expected to end that run with an Olympic medal.
"Obviously the pressure is there because everybody is looking at us - but we are staying in our own bubble and working on everything we can," said Hunter.
"No-one owns the event so we have to keep our feet on the ground and concentrate on giving our best performance. We have to be on our game or we will get left standing."
