Attention is higher at the beginning of the Olympic Games, but don't allow that to intrude your preparation, said an official with the German shooting squad on Monday.

"Any country participating in the Olympics is caring about medals, but you need to find a focus for yourself," said Claudia Kulla, assistant to the German shooting team leader, while accompanying double world record holder Sonja Pfeilschifter to have training in the Olympic shooting range at the western suburb of Beijing.

The 37-year-old Sonja Pfeilschifter is recognized as one of the major rivals for China's Du Li, who was expected to retain her title of the women's 10-meter air rifle.

Other big names include Russian pinup markswoman Lyoubov Galkina and Czech hopeful Katerina Emmons.

The event, slated for the morning of August 9, was brought to spotlight by media as it would produce the first Olympic gold medal.

"It is always a very important competition, because it's the first competition leading to any medals for the Olympic Games, so it's always very important for every nation," said Kulla.

"But there are a lot of girls able to get extremely high score, particularly in air rifle," she continued. "You don't know who is going to make it on that day. It's a bit like lottery."

Noting that Chinese athletes are "very strong", she believed that shooters should concentrate on their own performance and improvement of their technique.

Pfeilschifter, who just refreshed Du's world record of the women's 10m air rifle earlier this year, echoed her opinion.

"I will just do my best," she said.

(Xinhua News Agency August 5, 2008)