Quotes of the Finals

Quotes of the Finals Las Vegas – 9 February 2012   The finals of the 2012 World Archery Indoor Championships took place today in the Equestrian Centre of the South Point Casino in Las Vegas! Here are the reactions of the athletes and from Longines ambassador Andre AGASSI live from the field.   Andre AGASSI (USA) – Longines ambassador It was a very exciting day for me—my first in archery! I am glad these world championships came to Las Vegas, in my back-yard and that I had the opportunity to represent my sponsor Longines. I can see why Longines is also supporting archery—I am amazed by the precision of these athletes.   I have really seen archery close up today. I have talked to some of the stars archers. It also seems that this is a nice sport that you can pick-up as a family. I see education values in archery and again this fits well with the support of Longines to my foundation.   Recurve Men   Marco GALIAZZO (ITA) It was very difficult. I needed to control my emotion and not think about the opponent. In the shoot-off, an archer needs to be 100% convinced that he will shoot the best arrow. I am very happy I managed to shoot this way and get the gold. It is a great feeling to be back in 1st place!   Recurve Junior Men   Sjef VAN DEN BERG (NED) – silver individual I felt OK out there. I was not particularly nervous. I just did not shoot well enough in a couple of sets and during the tie-break. I am disappointed but my coach said: “you don’t lose gold, you win silver”!   Compound Men   Reo WILDE (USA) – individual and team gold It has been an amazing championship for me – on home soil! To be able to win a world gold medal in front of my dad, little brother and many other people who had never seen me shooting a high level competition, it is truly amazing! It also brings more pressure to shoot at home. It was tough until the end. James is a terrific archer and I knew he could come back anytime in this match if I allowed him this opportunity.   Braden GELLENTHIEN (USA) – team gold We know all of us in the team can shoot 10 pretty consistently—so that also means that if someone shoots a 9, the others will be able to pick it up from there. It gives you a lot of confidence.   I feel always privileged to shoot in a US team with such great teammates. We are shooting in the four corners of the world, so it is a great feeling to win a world championship at home. It was superb to hear the crowd behind us.   Guillaume RUBBEN (FRA) – team silver These are my first world championships – so I am living my dream! It is fantastic to win a silver medal at my first world championships! It is also an advantage to shoot on this final field this morning in preparation for my bronze medal individual match this afternoon. We need to get used to the light, to the environment, everything around us. But my teammates and my coach, who have much more experience, have helped me a lot!   Compound Women   Viktoria BALZHANOVA (RUS) – individual gold I am still not used to shooting at this level, to be on final field with all this pressure. I was half excited and half nervous. I just tried my best – at the end I am very happy that it worked out.   Erika ANSCHUTZ (USA) – team gold I am proud to be part of this US team, I mean the entire delegation. Every US athlete, senior and junior, will go home with at least one medal! Every US team has medalled and that’s a great sign for the state or archery in the USA.   It was always a challenge to shoot against Russia and my “good friend” and arch-rival Albina LOGINOVA. They have great archers in Russia and we probably have rivalled them around 20 times in recent years. This time we won, but I believe the victories have been split pretty much equally over the time.   World Archery Communication