• London Olympics 2012

It's just another Olympic Games - Redgrave

Sir Steve Redgrave has warned British athletes not to get caught up in the romance of a home Olympics as they continue their preparations for London 2012.

Redgrave, the most decorated British Olympian with five gold medals from five Olympic Games, admits there will be huge pressure on Team GB to win medals, but he insists athletes should approach the Games as they would any other competition.

"On a day-to-day basis of training from now right the way through, there is not going to be a lot of difference," Redgrave told ESPN. "Going off to Beijing three years ago the British public were talking about 2012, not talking about Beijing.

"But the athletes themselves are gearing up for an Olympic Games. Yes, they know it's going to be on home soil and there is the added excitement from that point of view, but 15, 16 months out as we are now, it is not going to make a jot of difference.

"The closer it gets, the more intense it will become, and the more pressure will be put on them. But pressure is a good thing because that normally adds to the excitement and the performance."

Around 70 per cent of the British team in London will be made up of first-time Olympians, and Redgrave has warned the debutants that nothing will prepare them for the magnitude of the event.

"I had been to three world championships before my first Olympic Games and that's the biggest sporting event we have until Olympic Games come along," Redgrave said. "But then you are one of 28 different sports, living in the village with the megastars from different sports that you see from around the world and that is pretty daunting."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.