Rower Vernon focused on journey to Olympic gold

Vernon won silver at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing

Cornish rower Annabel Vernon is aware of the pitfalls of being counted among the favourites to win gold for Britain at London 2012.

Vernon, 27, is a member of the British quadruple scull team, tipped for Olympic success in two years time.

Vernon told BBC Cornwall: "Nobody wants to win more than I do, and other people wanting me to win is great.

"But that won't distract me from what I'm doing, and make me feel more under pressure or less under pressure."

She added: "The reason that I'm doing it is to win for myself."

At the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, Vernon was a member of the British quadruple scull who narrowly missed out on gold, taking silver behind the winners China.

But with home advantage now in Britain's favour, Vernon is keen to make sure complacency does not become a factor.

She said: "The Olympics is obviously a massive stage to compete on and there's huge public interest in it, but at the end of the day I'm going to race as hard as I would if there was nobody watching.

"It's my journey, it's my mission and hopefully I'm the one who's going to go and win it at the end of the day."

The Wadebridge-born rower said her Cornish identity is an important part of her character and drive.

She said: "I've got St Piran's flag stickers on my training boats and when you go out to race you always race with a lot of emotion, a lot of passion and belief.

"I think that passion comes from who I am and where I'm from. Being Cornish is something special. It does give you that identity, it does give you that edge and I'm incredibly proud to represent my county."