4 August 2007 - World Cup Stage 4 – Quotes of the Day 5

World Cup Stage 4 – Quotes of the Day 5 Dover – 4 August 2007      Gellenthien (USA), Jimenez (ESA), Brasseur (FRA) Today we talked to the Individual Compound and Team Recurve finalists of the Meteksan Archery World Cup Stage 4 in Dover.   Compound Women   Jamie Van Natta (USA) - gold I’m absolutely delighted to finally win a World Cup today! I have come so close in many of the World Cup events since the beginning in 2006. Today was very tricky because of the wind; it has a major effect and you are really aware of your surroundings out there. The flags do not always tell you the true picture and you really have to follow your instincts.   I was very disappointed with my qualifying scores but my performance today has been top notch, it’s been a long run up to achieving the gold medal here but it’s always worth it.   I’m very excited going to Dubai. I think Petra and I are pretty equal and we enjoy competing against each other as we are good friends. I don’t worry about previous results against her, it’s always a new match to me and I focus on each one individually.   I am so excited to put on the Balmain watch – it’s the first time I’ve managed to get my hands on one, it feels great.   Sofia Goncharova (RUS) - bronze I went to watch the sea for a while last night and then I had a good sleep. This morning, I had a couple of bad shots in my semi-final against Petra (Ericsson) and that was the difference. It’s my fault; it’s not because of the wind. Anyway, I was dreaming to go to the World Cup Final in Dubai. It seems to have so much happening in the United Arab Emirates nowadays. With my third place in Dover, I qualified for Dubai and I am very happy I have made it!   Nicky Hunt (GBR) - 4th place It is just so windy out there and it certainly affected me. I guess that as it’s my first time in a final I really felt the pressure out there. The crowd really helped me though and I think they put pressure on my opponent. I’m disappointed but it was a great experience for me.   The event here in Dover has been very good. I was concerned about what the venue would be like as I know a lot of the other UK venues but it has been great to have such a large field so that we could all shoot at once during the qualifying rounds. The next thing for me is to concentrate on the European Indoor Championships.    Williamson (GBR)    Compound Men   Sébastien Brasseur (FRA) - silver After my victory against Gellenthien in Antalya, I had some confidence entering my semi-final against him. Nevertheless, I took the match arrows after arrows. We were tied at 84 points after nine arrows and then he shot an 8. It gave me hope and I shot well until the end. In my final versus Jimenez, there was a bit more wind and it plays a bit of a bigger factor when we shoot alternate. I dropped two 8s and I was trailing by two points. I ended the match with three 10s but he didn’t drop any point. It was the first time that I played against him and he is really strong.   Now, after all these important competitions in the last few months, I will take some well deserved vacations in August. I’ll start to train again in September. I’ll shoot a lot of arrows to find a consistent quality again. Since we won’t have any big international competition until the World Cup Final in Dubai, end of November, we’ll do some internal competitions with the French archers to prepare for it.   Braden Gellenthien (USA) - bronze The wind is particularly strong today, it was all on the archers and made very difficult for me, more so in the semi final than the bronze medal match. It did not allow us to show the most accurate archer today.   I’m really happy that I had the opportunity to shoot with one of my best friends on the archery circuit today (Liam Grimwood GBR) but I am disappointed not to have got to the final and try for gold or silver.   I’m off to the training field now as I really want to get ready for the team event tomorrow.   Recurve Women Team   Alison Williamson (GBR) - gold I’m really pleased with the result today. We put in a significant number of hours and it’s paid off. Archery is my job, I have a big support team and if I’m not practicing shooting then I’m in the gym or working with some of the people who provide the support.   Holding the event in the UK has been good for the sport, it’s raised the profile and has meant that a lot of people who had no knowledge of archery have come along and had a good day out.   The event has been really good practice for 2012. It has prepared us to cope with the distractions of being on home soil. There are people here, friends and family who wouldn’t normally be at an international event and you have to deal with that and still compete at the highest level.   Naomi Folkard (GBR) - gold This is a great result on home soil. I have lots of friends here so it is very exciting. The crowd support was fantastic and they certainly seemed like they were enjoying themselves.   We knew it was possible to win today but we also knew we had to put in a good performance.   I got into archery through my family. My Dad was an archer and we never saw him so we all decided to take part so we could be together more as a family.   Charlotte Burgess (GBR) - gold The finals venue is really good and the weather has been great. It was really nice for us to shoot here and for people to see what we can do.   We did what we came here to do!   Malgorzata Cwienczek (POL) – 4th place I have given birth to a little daughter about two years ago and after some time off, I came back to competition. I have been training a lot this year and my shooting is getting better and better. It didn’t shows at all today with these two team losses but the team is good. We beat a Korean team at some point this year, but we can also lose like today. The field of final was good and the organization of the World Cup stages is always improving. I know that individually I can still qualify for the Dubai World Cup final tomorrow. However, I don’t want to think about it and I want a good night of sleep to shot my best tomorrow.   Iwona Marcinkiewicz (POL) – 4th place We enjoy the shooting today but the arrows just didn’t want to get in the gold. I was calm but I have the feeling that we are shooting well when we have some stress. I think both the men and women Polish teams are improving, but we kind of need to have the knife on our neck to bring the best of us. The men definitely showed it with their super shooting at the Leipzig World Championships recently.   Recurve Men Team   Alan Wills (GBR) - bronze I’m pleased with the medal, today has been a good day – yesterday was not a good day, it’s really difficult always being away from home on my birthday.   I’m really looking forward to tomorrow’s competition; it will be very interesting to shoot against Simon again. (Redaction note: Wills will shoot to qualify for the World Cup Final in Dubai).     Rosemary Leach Dover Organizing Committee   Didier Miéville FITA Communication