Intro:

Los Angeles Lakers forward Pau Gasol arrived in London on Thursday with the Spanish basketball team ahead of the Olympics.

Spain go into the Games as one of the favourites, and a team that could challenge the United States for the gold medal.

The Spanish took silver at the Beijing Olympics in 2008, losing 118-107 against the NBA superstars in the final.

Earlier this week, the Spanish Olympic committee announced Gasol will replace tennis star Rafael Nadal as the country's flag bearer for the opening ceremony.

Nadal will not defend his Olympic tennis title after pulling out with an undisclosed injury last week.
The Spanish say Gasol has been chosen to replace Nadal because he represents "the best values in sport and competition."

The Spanish team will open their Olympics campaign against China on July 29.

Script:

SOUNDBITE (English):

"We would love to have the opportunity to have the chance to fight for a gold medal, but that will come with us playing well and beating a lot of other good teams in the tournament, starting with the first game against China, and we'll see. We'll see which teams come to the tournament in better shape, and obviously in one group I think of Argentina, France, and the U.S.A are the toughest teams. Then in our group, Russia, Brazil are the toughest ones, but that has to be proven during the tournament."

SUPER CAPTION: Pau Gasol, Spanish basketball player

SOUNDBITE (Spanish):

"About tomorrow (about being flag-bearer for Spain), I am really happy for the chance and the honour I was given, I am really proud to be in this position. I spoke with Rafa (Nadal) on the first day, when I heard about his situation and his injury, and then we spoke the following day, when he congratulated me and told me he was happy I was the person they chose to replace him."

SUPER CAPTION: Pau Gasol, Spanish basketball player