Last Updated: Tue, 29 Jul 2008 11:50
The British Olympic Association has not set a medal target for Beijing, but UK Sport expects an eighth-placed medals table finish.
UK Sport, which distributes Lottery funding to Britain's Olympians, are expecting 35 GB medals from the 2008 Olympic Games, including 10 to 12 golds.
The public-funded body has targeted cycling, athletics, sailing and rowing as the main contributors to Britain's medal haul.
But BOA chief Simon Clegg told BBC 5Live: "We see these Games very much as a stepping stone into London 2012.
"What's really important for us is not where we finish in the medal table but the progress that all the sports make.
"I fully accept that Beijing will be judged as a stand-alone Games," added Clegg.
"But for us in the BOA there's a much greater goal here and that's making sure we deliver in London in 2012 when the entire nation will be looking and expecting of us.
"We've set an aspirational target of fourth in the medal table for 2012.
"Of course we want success [in Beijing] and I'm confident that we'll have a good Games but progress, in the context of all the additional funding that's now going into the sports as a result of 2012, is really important."
Great Britain is sending a total of 313 athletes to Beijing but Clegg has estimated that the number of home-grown athletes competing at the London Games will rise to 650.
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