WITNESSS-Olympics-Rowing-Why I dedicate my life to Games glory

Olympic silver medallist and three-times world champion rower Frances Houghton, a 27-year-old who trains seven days a week, 49 weeks of the year, wrote the following article about what it feels like to train and enter an Olympic Games as one of the favourites.

By Frances Houghton

BEIJING, Aug 6 (Reuters) - Four years ago in Athens I stood on the right of the podium at the Olympic Games after winning a rowing silver medal and thought, 'Next time, I really, really want to stand in the middle'.

I was such a mix of emotions.

It had almost felt like the lake was rumbling that morning, there were so many supporters waving Union Jacks and making so much noise and I'd never even won a world championship medal before.

But when I crossed the line I was just so disappointed.

I did not know how to feel. It seems wrong to feel disappointed at winning an Olympic medal of any colour, but we knew we were within reach of the biggest goal in sport and had just missed it.

You commit so much to your team mates when you race. You say if I don't pass out with exhaustion when I cross the line then that's not enough. It really is blood, sweat and tears, and then when you cross the line and you can still move, you wonder, 'Did I do everything I could have done?'.

Now, with just days to go, we are preparing for the Beijing Games and my third Olympics. Now that four years have passed I realise that we did all we could in Athens.

Our outing before the final was the best we'd ever had. The warm-up was the best warm up we'd ever had. But the other crew were just better on the day.

When you prepare for the Olympics your main hope is that you recreate that, to produce your best performance.

All I can do is my absolute best. To be the product of all the years I've put into this. All the races, all the scenarios we've been in and everything we have learnt.

There have been times when I've rowed technically really well. There have been times when I've really physically produced amazing things and I just want my races at these Olympics to be the culmination of all those times.

MY MOMENT

It's hard at this stage not to think about the final but every time I do, I have to bring my mind back to think about the present, to do what I have to do, each day, each session, each moment.

When you compete at an Olympics you are trying, within the greatest sporting environment, to draw on everything you have ever learned to produce something beyond what you ever really thought you were capable of.