Comments from Team GB athletes after today’s morning events at Tokyo 2020
Swimming
Comments from Team GB swimmers after today’s events at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre
Adam Peaty
Age 26: Hometown: Uttoxeter
Result: Won Semifinal 2 in a time of 57.63 seconds to qualify for the Men's 100m Breaststroke Final, which takes place on Monday
On the race
“I had a little peripheral vision. I knew what I
needed to do. 58-low, I knew I could do that, so really, it’s about swimming the semi-final, not really proving anything and putting markers down. I know I’ll need a lot of energy for tomorrow, so we’ll see what I’ve got.“Every day has new challenges, new victories, so as long as the sun rises and I’m awake and my eyes are open, anything can happen. Olympic finals are Olympic finals and I’m looking forward to it."
On the final
“I’ve always said ‘If you’ve got a lane, you’ve got a chance’. I respect my competitors, if they’ve got a lane, they’ve got a chance, so it’s about showing that respect.
"But for me, as a competitor, I want to put my best foot forward and focus on my own race. But I know tomorrow it could go either way. It could be a 57.6, it could be 56.6, I’ll see what I’ve got. It’s a morning final so I’ll see what the challenges bring with that as well.
“I don’t really need time to settle in, I’ve proven that I can do it anywhere, anytime so I’m just enjoying it really."
Max Litchfield
Age: 26 Hometown: Pontefract
Result: Fourth in a time of 4:10.59 in the Men’s 400m Individual Medley Final. This repeated his performance from Rio
On how ‘gutting’ it feels to finish fourth
“It is - you summed it up. So close but so far. It is what it is. We'll go back and look at what we can do better.”
On the race
“I don't think there was too much wrong. Small things, we'll go back and look at how we can do things better.”
On potentially contesting the relay
“I don't know. Maybe 4x200m but will depend on the team – hopefully the guys can go in there and smash it in the heats. We'll see.
“I have to go back and focus as if I am doing that. If not, I'm done.”
On future determination having finished fourth
“Exactly, that was the same in Rio – even more this time. I've done everything I can these last five years, just not quite enough.”
Women's 4x100m Freestyle Relay – Lucy Hope, Anna Hopkin, Abbie Wood and Freya Anderson
Result: Fifth in the Final in a British-record time of 3:33.96
Lucy Hope
Age: 24 Hometown: Scotland, Jedburgh
On her first Olympic final
"It’s pretty special. It’s so good to be able to race with these three girls. There’s so much talent in one team.
"It’s just the start for this relay, we didn’t even know we were doing this until after Europeans so in the next three years we can progress so much."
Abbie Wood
Age: 22 Hometown: Derbyshire, Buxton
On the race
"To come away with a best time as a relay team, we couldn’t have done much more. It was like a good start to the meet."
On first experience of Olympic final
"We can build year by year as a team, it’s exciting knowing what’s to come. This is the third time we’ve raced together as us four, so it will be quite interesting to see if we get more experience, how far it will go."
On what's next
"Now we’ve got a taste, we know what we’re dealing with, especially after watching all the other finals today.
"We’ve just seen there’s a winner from lane eight. So it’s really a case of, ‘if you’ve got a lane, you’ve got a chance’.
"The morning finals make it much more unpredictable and interesting."
On recovering from last night
"You want an early start for the morning so it’s definitely napping in the day and a little sleep at night. But it’s good practice for the rest of the week."
On the time of 3:33.96, a British record
"It’s all our first Olympics, I feel like we just stepped up for our first Olympic final, we did ourselves proud coming away with a British record. We couldn’t really ask for much more."
Aimee Willmott
Age: 28 Hometown: Middlesbrough
Result: Seventh in the Women's 400m Individual Medley in a time of 4:38.30
On the race
"It was tough. Last night I swam pretty quick, just really wasn't thinking about where I was going in, I just knew I had to come back in this morning and give it everything that I had. That was all I had left."
On managing the occasion
"It's not sad tears, it's overcoming emotion. I just wanted to get out there and enjoy myself and it was so much fun.
"The race was as hard as I knew it was going to be but I guess the time was slightly off.
"But at this level after everything that's gone on in the world, you would never have thought that time would have won Olympic gold.
"It's just one of those things we've all had to deal with and get on with and I'm really fortunate to have been able to come and do three Olympics."
On bowing out in an Olympic final
"I finished seventh last time and I finished seventh again, so I can't really be too grumpy. The big thing for me was that I did make it back.
"Yesterday was a lot slower than I would have envisioned.
"Had I played the field a bit and maybe saved a bit, but for me it was about making sure I was here this morning and could get in and do what I could."
Rowing
Comments from Team GB’s rowers after today’s events at the Sea Forest Waterway
Men’s quadruple sculls – Harry Leask, Angus Groom, Tom Barras and Jack Beaumont
Result: Won their repechage in a time of 5:55.91 to qualify for the A Final currently scheduled for Tuesday
Angus Groom
Age: 29 Hometown: Glasgow
On the race
“The goal was top two but you’ve got to try and beat everyone if you want to do your best here. Each race, we just want to try and win.
“We just want to make the boat go as quickly as possible and if that means we’re three lengths up or an inch up, that’s all we want to be.
“We’re just trying to make our boat go as fast as possible from start to finish."
On the beds in the Olympic Village
“Team GB have been very good – they’re sponsored by Dreams and they’ve given us a really nice mattress topper! It makes it so much more comfortable!"
Harry Leask
Age: 25 Hometown: Edinburgh
On their plans ahead of the final
“Firstly, we’ve got to get our recovery right – get cooled down, get some feel back in and a good night’s sleep. Then it’s just keep rowing in our pattern and switch off for a day or so.
“We battled just to keep our rhythm going and keep rowing in the same pattern. We don’t need to do a massive amount of it.
“We’ve all trained really hard to this point – we’ve rowed thousands of miles, so we know what we’re doing, hopefully!”
Vicky Thornley
Age: 33 Hometown: Wales: Wrexham
Result: Finished third in her women’s single sculls quarter-final in a time of 7:59.93 to qualify for the semi-finals, currently scheduled for Wednesday
On the race
“I got the job done in terms of through to the semis – probably not ideally the result I would’ve liked but it’s about taking it a round at a time and you’ve got to play the game a little bit, making sure that you’re not putting all your eggs in the one race.
“I was really happy with the first half – it’s fine. If I had come 2nd, I would still be in the same semi-final. Now it’s about learning from that, recovering well for two day and then the big semi-final."
On living out her dream of competing in the single sculls at an Olympics
“I love this boat class. It’s what I’ve wanted to do – I took on this boat class knowing how tough it is.
“This is the Olympic Games and it’s never going to be easy. Everyone is going to have to fight it out to reach the final. It’s exactly what I expected it to be."
Hannah Scott
Age: 22 Hometown: Northern Ireland: Coleraine
Result: Finished fourth in the women’s quadruple sculls repechage alongside Mathilda Hodgkins-Byrne, Charlotte Hodgkins-Byrne and Lucy Glover in a time of 6:42.97 to miss out on the A final. They will compete in the B Final currently scheduled for Tuesday
On what went wrong in the race
“I’m pretty gutted. That wasn’t the result we wanted and it’s not that we didn’t have it in us, there were just a few hiccups along the start and then that didn’t set us off to the best start.
“It’s the Olympics – the one thing I’ve learned is that there’s only seconds in it. You can’t afford to make a mistake and ours came at the wrong time.
“In the Olympics, it’s seconds and one mistake is all it takes.”
On whether she’ll look back on becoming an Olympian with pride
“It’s hard to accept that right now. For me it wasn’t about going to the Olympics, it was about performing and we didn’t perform today.
“It’s been a tough year and this will be a tough result to look back on – it’s trying to weigh those two things up.
“With the year with had and the Covid-19 pandemic, maybe it’s just an achievement to get here in the first place but I can’t really see it like that right now – it’s difficult.
“It’s always sod’s law when you don’t get what you want. It will take me a minute or two but right now, I’m pretty gutted.”
Hockey
Comments from Team GB's women's hockey players after their 2-1 Pool A defeat to Germany. Sarah Jones's opener came in a losing cause.
Hollie Pearne-Webb
Age: 30 Hometown: Derbyshire, Belper
On the match
"We'll go back, look at the stats and see that was a really dominant performance. In one way it's really disappointing because on balance of play, the points should have been ours. However, we didn't make sure it was three points.
“The difference was just in both circles. We'll look at the stats and they didn't have many opportunities, maybe one corner, one stroke, not many shots.
“We had loads of corners and that's the difference, at both ends. We need to go back and tighten up those areas. Overall, it was really positive."
On defence of Olympic title
"We have to take learnings from Rio but this is a different squad, with lots of different players. We had lots of retirements after Rio and a new coach with a different style of play.
“We very much see ourselves as a new squad looking to win our first gold medal together. Obviously we take some confidence from five years ago but we want to create our own history here.
“In patches, we played some really good hockey. It's just about trying to tweak those final things, putting some of those corners in and then we would have had three points today."
Sarah Jones
Age: 31 Hometown: Wales, Cardiff
On the match
"It was a really good start to the game. It's how you want to start a tournament, to have as much possession as we did against a strong Germany team.
“Obviously, we put a goal away which was really good and there were just little moments in the game to tighten up that will make all the difference."
On defence of Olympic title
"Rio is an incredible legacy to have and I'm so proud to pull on the shirt knowing the girls who came before us are reigning champions.
“But we're all about making our own history as a team, it's a new group. There are some young ones in there, not including me! I'm incredibly proud to be a part of this group."
Archery
Comments from Team GB archer Naomi Folkard after her Women’s Team match at Yumenoshima Park, with Sarah Bettles and Bryony Pitman.
Result: Lost 5-3 to Italy in the 1/8 Eliminations
Naomi Folkard
Age: 37 Hometown: Leamington Spa
On her performance
“I will take the positives, I hit some good shots out there and will take that into the individuals. I need to focus a little bit on my technique and keep a calm head, that’s the most important thing.”
On what advice she would give to younger members of the team
“I think that the whole emotions and specialness of the Olympics can interfere with the mental side of archery.
“We have seen many times before how that can affect those who compete, when often the winner is the one who competes as normal.”
No comments:
Post a Comment