It's a sweltering day in Sunday's afternoon at 35 degrees centigrade, but archers training at the Olympic archery venue said the heat did not affect them much at all.
All five archers from Australia, three male and two female, were taking training under the supervision of South Korean coach Kyomoon Oh.
They took turns to shoot and checked up the points. 38-year-old Michael Naray was the oldest one among the squad. To him, the hot weather was not a problem at all despite that now it's the winter season in his country.
"We were undergoing training in hot weather in the north of Australia during the last few weeks,"said Naray.
"It's also very hot in Australia's summer and in the north part even in the winter, so the weather here won't be a hindrance for me and my teammates."
Naray had came to Beijing last year for the Olympic trial and the air quality to him has been much improved.
"The air quality here is much better now than last year when I was here for the Olympic test event of archery, though it's still smoggy sometimes," said Naray.
"Today's air is better than yesterday, and the day before yesterday, so I think it will be quite ok during the Games. I have no worry on that," added he.
Naray will be attending the men's team and individual events in the Beijing Olympics.
He finished 12th in team event at the 2007 Leipzig World Championships along with his teammates Mathew Gray and Kim Ha-Neul. In the individual, he was ranked 54th.
Naray and his teammates were also runners-up at the 2008 Santo Domingo World Cup and the 2007 Varese World Cup in Italy.
Daniel Morillo was the only archer for Spain. His team manager Lola Tello was in his company in the training field.
To Lola, the heat is not a problem, but the humidity in Beijing is something unadapted.
"The heat is not difficult for me and Daniel, you know, in Madrid it's also very scorching in the summer. In winter it'll be freezing. The weather in Spain goes in extreme as seasons decide," said Lola.
"But the humidity is something strange for us, in Madrid it's not quite wet like here," said she, adding the weather won't be barrier for Daniel.
"We've been here on July 31th, now we just get used to it already."
According to Lola, it's a tangible and approving goal for Daniel to reach the last 16 at the Games.
The 20-year-old got a couple of remarkable results in last Olympic cycle. He was top 8 at the 2005 World Championships, top 3 at the World Junior Championships, World Cup competitions and World Cup Final.
(Xinhua News Agency August 4, 2008)