Misty May-Treanor, women's beach volleyball defending champion, said?in Beijing?on Tuesday that she has put herself under pressure ahead of the Beijing Olympic Games.
"We want to win (again)," she said after a training session in the Chaoyang Park beach volleyball ground. "We put pressure on ourselves."
The US beach volleyballer, teamed up with Kerry Walsh, did not lose a single game in their seven matches at the 2004 Olympics.
But this time in Beijing, things may be a little bit different.
"Everybody is tough," said May-Treanor. The two host teams, Tian Jia/Wang Jie and Zhang Xi/Xue Chen, for example, are hard to play, she told Xinha.
"The Brazilian teams are pretty good, and the other US team is very strong as well. These are the top entries.
"We want to play our best volleyball here, we feel we're capable and we're getting better," she said.
The US pairs is widely believed to keep the Olympics gold medal if they are to give full play to their abilities.
They have been continuing their winning streak in world-class tournaments in the past years. The two are No. 1 and 2 on the all-time women's victory list --102 for May-Treanor, 99 for Walsh. They have won 96 tournaments together.
The pair said they have to keep playing well since the rivals are making rapid progress too. They should keep doing well before the Beijing Olympics to keep a good momentum, said Walsh.
Three-time Olympian May-Treanor is also expecting to use their experiences to gain an upper hand over their rivals in Beijing.
The other teams may have strong serves but they can score with side-outs, May-Treanor said. And they will have better control during the matches, she added.
Kerry Walsh, who was named the most outstanding player in the Athens Games, is also looking forward to better performance in Beijing.
"Of course I will be better this time," she said. "In face of more strong rivals. We need to get better."
The two, who begin to pair up eight years ago, said they felt comfortable to play as a duo.
"We understand each other and we want the same things. Both of us work very hard in pools. I love playing with Kerri," May-Treanor said. "Misty is an amazing partner."
Arriving in Beijing on Monday, the Americans said they need to take some time to adapt to the hot weather here.
"We must get used to the heat and humidity", said May-Treanor.
Walsh, who is in Beijing for the the first time, said: "The city is beautiful and the people here are kind."
(Xinhua News Agency August 5, 2008)