London Test Event: Flash Quotes

Here are the reactions from the athletes!   Les 1/32 et 1/16 de finales sont joués du jeudi à samedi, les matches des hommes et des femmes en alternance. Voici les réactions des athlètes!   1/16 Eliminations Recurve Men   XING Yu (CHN)   On the feeling of shooting a perfect set (three 10 arrows) to win:   “I felt very cool. When I did that I believed I would win this round.”   On the world ranking:   “I just want to be myself and perform as best as I can. I don’t want to think about the world rankings that will follow at the end.”   On the conditions:   “The conditions are OK, it’s just cold. Next year the Olympics are in July so it will be much better.”   Gael PREVOST (FRA)   On what to take from the experience of competing at Lord’s Cricket Ground:   “Shooting on the Olympic field of play is a good experience. Now I have time to prepare for my event, and this experience will add to that. I know what to expect from the venue.”   On conditions at Lord’s:   “Just a little windy, not too bad. It is cold, but there was no rain this morning so that helped.”   Larry GODFREY (GBR)   On his performance:    “I felt strong, I felt confident. I got the rhythm going but all the arrows were going right, so I need to learn from that.”   On competing at Lord’s:   “I only played cricket at school but I still appreciate what a great venue it is. To walk down the steps and open the little gate, it’s an honour and not something that many people get to do.”   “It’s like in Athens in 2004 when we competed in the original stadium of the 1896 Games. It was like being a gladiator walking into the arena. It feels similar here.”   On his friendship with Dmytro HRACHOV:   “We’ve known each other for a long time, we became friends in Athens in 2004 and we are social friends now. He’s a good shot, I’m a good shot, we are closely matched.”   On the London Archery Classic:   “I’m happy with the way it’s gone here. It is a test event, so it’s been good to test the venue. The wind changes everything here. We knew about the cricketers struggling in the wind.”   Dmytro HRACHOV (UKR)   On his performance:   “I think it was a serious match, a challenging one. The wind was very strong and it was hard to shoot. I am very satisfied I won here.”   KUO Cheng Wei (TPE)   On whether having two matches in quick succession helped:   “I had a good practice this morning before the first match and I just relaxed between that and the second match.”   On whether he has become accustomed to Lord’s:   “The weather changes a lot. The venue is good but I will pay more attention to the wind.”   On whether he felt any pressure competing against the fourth ranked archer in the tournament:   “I try my best and it doesn’t matter about my competitor.”   Romain GIROUILLE (FRA)   On going out of the competition:   “I think it was very difficult, I shot well in this arena with my teammates, but it is very different without them, something I will have to get used to.”   Brady ELLISON (USA)   On his ‘perfect’ 30 point start:   “Mentally it’s only you and the target and if you shoot three 10 you can’t be beaten. You always try to go out and do it, sometimes you get it.”   On the wind conditions:   “Even when you feel like there’s nothing, there is just enough to push your arrows. On the practice field it swirls around, the leaves are doing tornadoes out there.”   Crispin DUENAS (CAN)   On his performance:   “It was OK, I shot well. The wind was messing with me a little, blowing on the line but not at the target.”   On being knocked out by Brady ELLISON (USA):   “I have shot against him a bunch of times so it’s pretty normal (laughing).”   1/32 Eliminations Recurve Men   Jake KAMINSKI (USA)   On taking a two-set lead:   “It was going all right. At two sets up it felt great.”   On shooting the seven that proved decisive:   “I got unlucky on that last one. It felt like it should be a nine on the right hand side but the wind just pushed it further to the right. You just can’t see the wind here. That’s the problem with a stadium you have no idea which direction it’s going in, you can only guess.”   On returning to London for the 2012 Games:   “I’ll be back and hopefully going further than this next time.”   Hiroki SUETAKE (JPN)   On the shoot-out:   “It is only the second time for me. There was a lot of pressure after he (PREVOST, FRA) shot a 10.”   On the weather conditions:   “During practice I thought it would be OK but in the middle it was very cold. But I prepared for it with extra clothing.”   Jacek PROC (POL)   On feeling the pressure:   “I felt the pressure. In the first end I did not shoot at 100 per cent of power but the last two ends were good ones. I need to work harder to improve, to get a better result next year. ”   On the venue:   “Personally I do not like this arena. There is a big distance between the first row of seats and the shooting line. The audience cannot feel nor even see what the archers are doing.”   “And while shooting you feel alone, you do not feel you have people there for you, you so not see them and this affects the way you shoot.”   “In Beijing (Olympic Games 2008) things were different: sitting in the highest row of seat it was like having the archers in your hands. But here I tried to sit in the highest seats were others were shooting and I did not have the same feeling, they looked so small, so far away from me.”   On his expectations for the London 2012 Olympic Games:   “I hope next year things will get better. I know there will be built two tribunes closer to the shooting line. Let’s see if I will have the same emotion. I hope next year things will get better.”   Mitch DIELEMANS (NED)   On his hopes to come back to the London 2012 Olympic Games:   “It is a very nice venue and it’s always good to shoot at the place where the Olympic Games will be held before the event itself, hopefully I will get to shoot at the Olympics next year.”   On the cold:   “When it’s cold, it’s difficult to relax, but when it’s warm and you can were a pair of shorts and relax you can really just go with it. It is a bit chilly today, but the wind isn’t too bad.”   Matthew GRAY (AUS)   On the conditions:   “They vary. It’s difficult. You try to read it with the flags and the electronic wind system, however accurate that is (smiles). A lot of it comes from experience.”   “The grandstand is very protective in practice. You just have to watch the first arrow of your opponent and judge it from there.”   On the differences between competition as an individual and in a team:   “We train for individuals. The team event is good as it brings us all together. A lot of teams, Australia in particular, are still finding out how to work as a team. The end result is a team result but we are working hard on getting that.”   On how he will spend the rest of the tournament:   “We don’t fly out until Tuesday. I’ll spend the rest of the time training here as I don’t get much time back home due to work commitments.”   Mauro NESPOLI (ITA)   On his performance:   “My shooting performance did not seem bad to me but I scored few points. I don’t think I scored even a 10, only nines and that six at the beginning was due to the wind. It was the wind. It blew away my arrow. I am sure next time things will get better. Now I have plenty of time to relax until 11 October when I will go back to Italy.”   On the wind condition:   “It has to be said that this venue is not so easy to understand. It is not easy to understand where the wind is blowing from and there are always lots of unpredictable blasts of wind. On the warm-up field you do not feel the wind coming because the left side is covered. Next year these conditions might be different because of the new tribunes, maybe they will stop the wind.”   Alan WILLS (GBR)   On the loss:   “I’m gutted, really cheesed off. You work really hard and you wait and wait and your chance comes and it’s over in the blink of an eye. I don’t like losing.”   “Technical wise, if you take away the score, that’s the best I’ve shot since the world (field) championships (in Hungary) 18 months ago.”   “But it’s about having Lady Luck on your side. My unlucky ones were out by a millimetre and his lucky ones were in by a millimetre.”   On playing in front of a home crowd in 2012:   “Having a crowd behind you takes away all the nerves. I’ve had it where they have been shouting for me and I’ve had it the other way around where you shoot a 10 and nobody cheers, and the other guy shoots an eight and they shout like mad. That’s what we will have next year.”   Eetu TIAINEN (FIN)   On the match:   “I was very nervous, he is the last Olympic champion so my hand was shaking and the wind was not helping.”   1/16 Eliminations Recurve Women   FANG Yuting (CHN)   On avenging her loss to ESEBUA in the 2011 world championships semifinals in Turin:   “I knew we would meet again and I believed I could stand up where I fell down in Turin. I felt like I would win today.”   On taking a two-set lead:   “It gave me a lot of confidence. I wanted to hold the advantage and that made me feel like I could with the match.”   On competing at Lord’s:   “It’s very beautiful. But it’s too cold today.”   On seeing the sights of London:   “My schedule has been too tight so I have not had any time yet. But I hope to have some time tomorrow and will go and see some places. I don’t know what I will see yet.”   Ksenia PEROVA (RUS)   On winning the match in a shoot-off:   “It was really exciting shooting here. This is a beautiful venue, I really like this stadium. I like this set system, it is super. My arrow was the closest to the centre and of course I am really happy I won.”   Ren HAYAKAWA (JPN)   On having to wait to shoot due to a technical fault:   “I was already feeling a little pressure and this added more.”   On the next round:   “I would like to have a performance that leaves no disappointment.”   On the English weather:   “It’s cold. It just requires more warming up.”   On preparing for the London 2012 Olympic Games:   “This game is a good preparation for the Olympic games next year.”   Naomi FOLKARD (GBR)   On the defeat:   “Technically I could not have done anything better.”   On how Lord’s will change at the Games because of the stands that will be built on the cricket pitch:   “It’s going to be completely different. It’s going to mean that we won’t feel the wind at all and the arrows won’t be affected until the last 30 metres when they come out from the shelter of the stands.”     On the biggest lesson of this week:   “It’s been about getting comfortable with the venue. I’ve now got memories that I can use when I do my mental training. I’ve shot great shots here and can do it again.”   On the previous 1/32 elimination match, her 6-0 defeat of Natalia LESNIAK (POL):   “I was a little bit nervous, my front arm was shaking. It was the first match. But I kept the execution strong, that’s how the arrows get to go in the middle. I also read the wind perfectly, apart from the last arrow.”   JUNG Dasomi (KOR)   On her winning performance:   “I’m satisfied because it was my first match.”   On adapting to the UK weather:   “Before I came to the UK I already had some information about the weather. A lot of people said the weather would be bad but it has been fine.”   On Lord’s as the Olympic venue for Archery:   “The venue is very wide and the first time I shot here the sun was very bright and it was a struggle to see. But I have got used to it.”   On visiting London:   “I am really enjoying it. I really like the street performers and the double decker buses.”   Amy OLIVER (GBR)   On her overall performance:   “In qualifications I didn’t do what I normally do, but we did really well during the team events.”   On pre-match nerves:   “I was probably less nervous, I’ve faced her (JUNG Dasomi) before and she’s always been pretty much perfect with her shots, so I just came out and gave it my all, because at the end of the day, it is anyone’s game.”                                                               On how the venue will differ in 2012 with new tribunes:   “They will definitely change the dynamics of the event, it will be so loud, and the way they will be built so close, up to those white pegs, right up to the action will be amazing.”   “The wind conditions will change as well, they will really have an effect on the cross wind here, so we all will have to get used to that as well.”   1/32 Eliminations Recurve Women   Jessica TOMASI (ITA)   On how the cold affected her:   “I am freezing. I did not shoot well mostly because of the cold weather. I knew that it would have been cold so I took my ski gloves with me but when we arrived here it was still summer.”   On her lack of preparation:   “I was not ready for a competition like this. I did not train as much as I needed to. My expectations were really different. Last weekend I got the silver medal in the Italian national championships in Rome and Natalia (VALEEVA) won the gold.”   On her anger at her performance:   “I have been shooting well until last week. Here everything changed and I am very fed up. I do not think it is a matter of stress because I have already shot at international events and the pressure you feel every time is just the same. I think this is the worst performance I have ever done lately.”   Sinead CUTHBERT (IRL)   On what she has to do to return to Lord’s next year (for the London 2012 Olympic Games):   “Nobody but Great Britain gets a quota so to qualify you can finish in the top eight at the world championships, in the top three at the Europeans or in the top five in the last qualifier in the US. I’ll be at the Europeans and going to the US as well.”   “I’ll spend the winter doing a lot of strength work and fitness. We had a Korean coach come over and they introduced a lot of new techniques so I’ll be using those.”   On her quick release when shooting:   “It’s just my technique. I fire as soon as I settle. I usually settle after about a second and I release when it feels right.”   On her experience at Lord’s:   “It’s been excellent. The venue is lovely, it’s laid out superbly and the volunteers have all been really nice and very helpful. I’d say it’s the best competition I’ve been to.”   Natalia LESNIAK (POL)   On her performance:   “I am disappointed. This morning I was feeling good, I was feeling strong but then, on the shooting line, I got stressed. I had so many feelings inside me and so many thoughts inside my head. Maybe it is because I am still young (20 years old) but I really felt the pressure.”   Nathalie DIELEN (SUI)   On the wind conditions:   “I shot strong and I shot good this match. The problem is that I did not shoot well in the qualification round. In this match I had several difficulties with the wind.”   “The wind-socks were pointing to opposite directions, the string I have at the end of the stabiliser did not help me, the flags over the targets were twisting around, the strength and direction of the wind shown on the screen changed every few seconds.”   “I did not know where to aim, so I decided to aim in the middle and some of my arrows hit the gold.”   On shooting eliminations at Lord’s:   “I like the new set system and I like shooting here. This is really a beautiful venue. Archers never have the opportunity to shoot in venues like this one, it only happens at the Olympics.”   On getting the Olympic quota places for Switzerland:   “We do not have any quota places for Switzerland at the moment and we hope to get at least one individual quota place at the European Championships (Amsterdam in May 2012) or in Ogden (Final World Team and Individual Qualification Tournament in June 2012).   “It would be like a dream getting the team quotas. This is the second year we have been shooting together and to get to the Olympics we need all three of us at the top.”   By LOCOG ONS London’s Prepare Series