Canoe Slalom

Athlete quotes from today’s races

Benjamin BOUKPETI (TOG)
“It was very tough. I got injured this winter, I came back to training quite late, I have not made one race at a good level this year. However, I did some good qualifications, so I felt confident. This was the first round under a great pressure, and I have to admit this is my level right now. I need to work more to improve myself. It is not dramatic but it is not enough to earn a quota for the Olympics.”
 
Fabien LEFEVRE (FRA)
“I was given a 50 seconds penalty for not passing a gate properly, which really surprised me because I was not under the impression that I did any mistake. Then the judges admitted it was a judgment error and removed the penalty. I think now it should be enough to be in the top 10 and get to the finals.”
 
Peter KAUZER (SLO)
“It was safe for the final. The result in the semi-final does not mean anything because everything starts again in final. I still have some time to gain because I made a few mistakes, especially on gate 15 I was a little bit low,and I was slow on 16 and 17, the rest was quite OK, maybe a little bit secure on the top, but I didn’t want to get the penalty. I’m happy to be in the final, and I will try to do my best there. I am the first competitor to myself because you need to beat yourself if you want to beat the others.”
 
Boris NEVEU (FRA)
“It went well this morning, I had to get into the top 10 and I did it. I did a really good race, but it does not really matter because coming first or tenth is the same thing to be qualified for the final. Psychologically though, it is important to show to the other athletes what you arecapable of. I have been constant at the international level these last few years, so it is good to rely on this constancy here at the World Championships.”

 
Martin HALCIN (SVK)
“I feel very disappointed. It is not a good day for me. I don’t know what happened. Sorry.” 
 
Daniele MOLMENTI (ITA)
“I feel alright, I was very nervous before. During the warm-up I thought that it was the only chance for Italy to get an Olympic quota, so I wanted to do it. I didn’t take any risk to be sure to finish in the first fifteen. In the end I did a good time, but I didn’t feel really good this morning to be honest. The goal of the day is reached, the goal for the nation. Now I have my personal goal, it’s to beat my opponents and get a new world medal. It will be hard to get the gold again, because they are really good. I didn’t do a really good jump. If I do, I can finish first, of course.”
 
Alexander GRIMM (GER)
“I am feeling good. I knew the course was really hard today, much harder than for the qualifications. I was nervous, like for any semi-finals. I am very happy to be in the next round, everything can happen now. I need to paddle against the water and myself to win the final. Here, you need to be all the time on the right line, without touches, that is quite difficult.”