UK targets 4th place in Olympics medal table

LONDON - The British team has an "aspirational target" of the London Olympic Games in July which is to repeat their fourth-place achievement on the medal table, said British Olympic Association (BOA) Chairman Colin Moynihan.

"We call it aspirational target and it is what we aspire to deliver," said Moynihan.

The chairman was presented in a nomination activity for London Olympic torchbearers on Tuesday at Wembley Stadium, where he was surrounded by the similar questions about British athletes' expectations about the Games.

"It's going to be tough. In Beijing, fourth place was a remarkable achievement by a great team," he said.

As Moynihan mentioned, Britain grabbed 47 Olympic medals (including 19 golden ones) and claimed a fourth-place finish at Beijing Olympics, which was their best results in the past century.

Moynihan stressed that the challenge would be huge as they had seen a number of teams made big improvement in the past four years, especially Germany and Australia.

The chairman also showed his confidence. "We believe if everything goes right and the athletes deliver their personal bests, then on home territory, it's potentially deliverable."

"But as I say it's going to be very tough. There are a lot of work to be done between now and summer. But that aspiration remains fourth place on medal table," he said.

With around six months to go before the July's Olympic gala, Moynihan said his side prepared well in a good atmosphere after the early process of selection.

"The preparation is going well. We anticipates by the time we will complete the full team by around 550 athletes," he said.

"They (the athletes) all have produced remarkable results both in European and world championship level (competitions) during 2011. So atmosphere in the team is growing and confidence in the team is growing as well."

"So as far as the athletes are concerned which is BOA's top priority, we are enthusiastic and optimistic about the potential performance of our athletes in London," added the chairman.