BEIJING — Japanese rower Daisaku Takeda and teammate Kazushige Ura arrived in Beijing on Friday for what will likely be their curtain-closing act at the Beijing Olympic Games.

Takeda, known as "iron man" in Japanese rowing circles, will compete in the Olympics for the fourth consecutive time when the men's lightweight double sculls competition gets under way Aug. 10.

"I can feel the atmosphere of the Olympics and that this is a big deal," Takeda said after arriving at Beijing Capital Airport with Ura on Friday.

The medals podium has continued to elude Takeda, who teamed up with Hitoshi Hase to finish sixth at the 2000 Sydney Games, and came in the same spot with Ura four years later in Athens.

They booked an Olympic berth with another sixth-place finish at last year's world championships in August. Placing in the top three in Beijing would give Japan its first-ever Olympic rowing medal.

Ura, for his part, said now that the Olympics are just around the corner he has strengthened his resolve to claim a medal on the world's largest stage.

"I was very relaxed in Japan but now that I'm here I feel determined. I had decided to focus my efforts once I got here and I can feel that the time has come," Ura said.

Takeda has had some of his toughest workouts while training near the seashore in his single scull in Matsuyama, Ehime Prefecture, where he says he can always start with a fresh perspective.

The waves on Japan's inland sea are relatively calm but, with ripples of about 10 cm, still provide the perfect environment to polish his technique since the scull hardly progresses on the choppy surface.

The 34-year-old Takeda, who began rowing when he was 16, says he intends to take over his family's orange cultivating business at his parents' home in Iyo, Ehime Prefecture, after the Olympics are over.

That gives him and his partner one last shot for glory. His wife Motoko, who named their second daughter Kyoko using the second Chinese character for Beijing, is completely behind helping her husband fulfill his dream.

"I think that we definitely have a chance to get a medal. It's up to our conditioning. We have been training and staying in good shape so it's definitely possible," Takeda said.