MADRID, August 1 (Xinhua) -- Spanish medal hopeful Gemma Mengual said Friday that the Spanish synchronized swimming team is fully prepared and ready to go for a medal.

    "We have done our homework very well, which is what you have to do in a competition like the Olympic Games. We have been working intensely for the past four years and now it is time for us to compete and fight for those targets we all have in mind," she told the Diario AS newspaper from Beijing.

    "Of course we aim to end up on the podium, we have progressed well and we have reached a level where we can compete with the best," she said.

    Mengual feels threats from China and the United States. "I see two main rivals -- China and the United States. We saw the Chinese in the pre-Olympic competition and they also beat Japan in the Asian Games," she said.

    "I haven't seen the Americans this year. But I am certain they will also arrive in their best form," Mengual told the paper.

    Mengual was among the first Spanish competitors to arrive in Beijing.

    The Beijing Games will be Mengual's third Olympics. She finished eighth in Sydney in 2000 and finished fourth, agonizingly close to a medal, in both the duo and team events in Athens four years later.

    "We were novices in Sydney, and in Athens we had improved considerably, we were fourth and almost got a medal, now thanks to our results and hard work, we are in the group of countries that has a medal chance. We have earned our respect."

    "Now we are in Beijing to confirm all of that good work," she said.