Partridge has point to prove in Beijing

ROWER Alex Partridge is a man on a mission in Beijing - hell-bent on proving British boss Jurgen Grobler has made a selection clanger by dropping him from the Team GB flagship crew.

Partridge must fear the worst every time an Olympic Games comes around, having missed out on Athens gold alongside Sir Matthew Pinsent after suffering a collapsed lung in 2004.

Desperate to make up for lost time in Beijing - Partridge was again left disappointed after being made the scapegoat for a below-par British showing at the 2007 World Championships and was promptly replaced in the British four by Welshman Tom James.

With the weight of expectation on Britain's premier boat - the coxless four - in Beijing, Partridge's inclusion in the men's eight has gone relatively unnoticed.

The eight has been made second-priority boat in Beijing, but strengthened by Partridge and last year's pair of Colin Smith and Matt Langridge - Grobler has high hopes.

But for the man dubbed Britain's fifth rower in Athens - Partridge is determined to prove his doubter's wrong by landing Beijing gold.

"It's disappointing not to finish the [fours] project off, but if I win a gold medal in the eight, I won't mind," said Partridge, who was injured five weeks before the 2004 Olympics. "I put in my best year, I tried not to make any mistakes in three-and-a-half years, and for whatever reason I'm not in the same boat - that's the hardest part.

"Both myself and Jurgen are realists. I'm not going to cry about it. I'm going to get on and make whatever boat I'm in go as fast as I possibly can. This is a new boat and a new project.

"Already the eight is going a lot faster than any British boat in this category has gone before. It's a fun boat to go in.

"I think in the long run this will be the best thing for me. I will be able to cross the finish line and say I did my best, and I think that will be good enough."

Partridge, who studied technology management at Oxford Brookes University and is currently studying Italian part-time, admits missing out on Athens gold has been a driving force in the run up to Beijing.

A collapsed lung just four weeks before the Athens Olympics was tough to take for Partridge, who was forced to watch on in frustration as replacement Ed Coode combined with Steve Williams, James Cracknell and Pinsent to win an emotional gold medal.

"When those guys crossed the line, I said to myself 'this is finished now," added Partridge. "I'm no longer injured and not going to Athens'. Everything since then has been about Beijing.

"Of course seeing them win gave me motivation, especially throughout the really tough times in training. It has given me a lot more excitement and emotion when I'm racing and hopefully that rubs off on the people around me.

"But I want to write my own story now, whatever that is. It's a new chapter for me.

"I think I've been very silly to think the Olympics owed me anything. If you think that then you are never going to get anywhere, because that's all part of sport.

"So whatever people say, stories leading up to this Olympics are very much irrelevant to me. I'm just going to do my best, and because of the strength in the British rowing team, our best is going to be pretty good."

DANIEL SCHOFIELD in Beijing