Britain's men's four, the flagship boat that won Olympic golds in Sdyney and Athens, has set their sights on a third gold in Beijing, but they admitted that the race would be very close.

"We have a good chance of winning the gold, but the competition can be very fierce," Steve Williams told Xinhua before their afternoon training session. The 32-year-old is the only member in the line-up that took the men's four title in the Athens Games.

Following the Athens glory, the men's four won two consecutive world championships in 2005 and 2006. But they were not in good form last year as they finished in a disappointing fourth in the 2007 World Championships.

"Several teams have made the top over the past year," said Andrew Hodge. "Each team has good hopes and deserve to stand on the top of the podium."

The British team was dogged by injuries and line-up changes this year. After winning the first world cup race in Munich, they did not even make the final in the second world cup regatta in Lucerne. They finished second only to the Netherlands after two first-choice rowers returned after recovering from injuries.

The British team's German coach Jurgen Grobler said the men's four had had a hard season, but acknowledged that the results were satisfying after taking into consideration of the injuries and substitutes.

"Otherwise, they could't be that bad," the German said, "but everyone can win and lose."

"They are now fit, ready and in good form. They just need more time together to become faster."

Grobler acknowledged that as the flagship, they were under lots of pressure as people back home in Bratain expected best results from them.

He added that the race could be very fierce with tough rivals including New Zealand, world champion in 2007, Italy, second finisher in 2007 World Championships, and the Netherlands that had good consistency.

The British rowing team arrived in Beijing at around 9 a.m. on Thursday and got to the Shunyi Olympic Rowing and Canoing Park, venue for the Olympic rowing, canoeing, and marathon swimming, at 4 p.m. for their first training session. They will compete in 12 of the 14 Olympic rowing events.

(Xinhua News Agency August 1, 2008)