• London Olympics 2012

Pressure could be too much for athletes - Holmes

Dame Kelly Holmes has warned of the danger of hanging medals around athletes' necks before they have even qualified for London 2012.

While the likes of Jessica Ennis, Sir Chris Hoy and Rebecca Adlington are hotly tipped to win gold on home soil next year, Holmes believes the added pressure of the nation's expectation could prove detrimental.

"What people have to remember in most teams people haven't even been selected yet," Holmes told ESPN. "So whilst people put medals around their necks I think it is quite dangerous to do that because you are talking about a defined time that a sportsperson has to be as healthy and as fit as they can; not injured, not ill.

"You are putting added pressure on them because you have already banked a medal round their neck and saying they are going to be one to count for and I think that is the worst thing to do."

Holmes, who was named as one of Team GB's 27 ambassadors on Monday, made her Olympic debut at the 1996 Games in Atlanta, where she finished fourth in the 800 metres.

She went one better at the Sydney Games in 2000 with a bronze medal, but it was not until 2004 that, at the age of 34, she cemented her status as a British Olympic hero with gold in both the 800m and 1500m.

While the likes of Hoy and Adlington will be expected to defend their Olympic titles in London, Holmes believes many young British athletes will make a name for themselves in the capital.

"There is going to be a huge amount of new talent [in London] - about 70 per cent [of the British team] are going to be first-time Olympians - so they are people we might not even know at the moment," Holmes said. "They will step up to the plate, some of the younger athletes, whoever it may be, on sports you just wouldn't even think.

"For the first time ever we are going to take part in every single sport, so there is going to be a raft of new talent that are going to step up to the mark as well as the established athletes that we pray are going to pull it off again."

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