July 30, 2008	Wednesday	Rajab 26, 1429

KUALA LUMPUR, July 29: Australia’s head coach has shunned talk of a medals target while insisting his swimmers will not be intimidated by a powerful United States team at next month’s Beijing Olympics.

“We don’t make medals targets, we have some ideas of our team goals but we don’t make medal tally predictions,” chief coach Alan Thompson told reporters on Tuesday.

“These are athletes; it’s not part of their process to think that way. I’m quite confident, we have a pretty good team here, we’ll do pretty well but the Americans had a great (Olympic) trials, they’re set to maintain their dominance.”

Australia’s best result at an Olympics was as hosts at the 2000 Sydney Games, when they took 18 medals in the pool but Australian swimming chiefs expect them to better that mark in Beijing.

The United States topped the Athens medals table with 28, followed by traditional rivals Australia on 15.

Thompson believes the US, having toppled nine world records at their Olympic trials recently, were again the clear favourites but said Australia were not longer in awe of their rivals.

“Everyone on the team is aware of the strength of the US team,” he stated. “Our aim is to be the number one team in the world, we feel we can get closer and closer.

“When I started coaching, Americans would walk in and everyone look in awe. In the 1990s, we were intimidated by US but that’s no longer the case.”

Thompson believes last week’s revelation of a positive drugs test by American Jessica Hardy would only strengthen the will of the US team and said Michael Phelps was “a sensational swimmer” capable of a winning eight gold medals at the Games.—Reuters