London 2012: Barbara Parker unfazed by Games pressure

Norfolk athlete Barbara Parker is confident she can deal with the pressure of home expectations when she competes in the London Olympics.

The 29-year-old from King's Lynn has been selected for the 5,000m and her main event, the 3,000m steeplechase.

"For Beijing I hyped it up, thinking 'It's the Olympic Games and it's going to be something different' - but it's really just another race.

"I've just got to stay calm and collected," she told BBC Radio Norfolk.

Parker now lives in Atlanta in the United States and part of her preparation for London has been to re-acclimatise to the British weather.

She will be running at the Diamond League meeting in Paris on Friday - "The field's pretty much like the Olympic final, maybe even better," she said - and also plans to compete at Crystal Palace the following weekend.

Currently ranked seventh in the world in the steeplechase, she has been working with a sports psychologist and believes a medal is a realistic possibility if everything goes her way on the day.

"There's really not that much distance between me and the six people ahead of me. I definitely don't feel I've run my fastest time of the season yet," the British number one added.