Don't underestimate us

James Cracknell, one of Team GB's 'Oarsome Foursome', has joined forces with BBC Sport Online to bring you news from the boat ahead of Sydney 2000.

James explains why defeat in the World Cup recently has strengthened the resolve of Redgrave & co.

If anything, losing in Lucerne has made the atmosphere much more aggressive in camp.

We're pretty upbeat despite the defeat because we know we didn't row well and worked too much prior to the race, so in that sense it'll help us to sharpen up our act.

There is still a nagging doubt about whether our competitors have moved up a gear, however, and that should put a stop to any complacency come Sydney.

Cracknell's "heroes": Matthew Pinsent and Steve Redgrave

Having been so successful over so many years, it's always difficult when we row, because everyone is out to beat us, but for me anything other than Olympic gold will be failure.

One good thing about losing to Italy has been that, perhaps, we won't be viewed as the favourites any more, which means victory will be all the more sweet when we cross the finish line.

Despite the hiccup, it's an honour rowing with Steve Redgrave and Matthew Pinsent - two people who have so much experience behind them and let's face it, not many people get the chance to compete at the top level with their boyhood heroes.

That's not to say Steve is happy about his team members getting younger, however! Though he does enjoy the chance to prove he can still mix it with us.

Speaking personally, Sydney is going to be massive. As my first competitive Games, it's hard to see past it at the moment and as it gets nearer the pressure will rise.

As a team we've got two more weeks at our training camp in Austria before we leave for Down Under.

It's vital we get things together right now, and the cooler temperatures allow us to get three good sessions in during the day.

After that, we fly to Brisbane on August 20th to start our acclimatisation. But we're all focussed on bringing back the gold for Great Britain you can be sure of that.