World Championships Leipzig 2007 – Quotes of the Day 9

We talked to the archers that were competing today in the individual finals.   Recurve Men   Dong Hyun Im (KOR) – gold medal Of course, I’m really happy! I was very excited throughout the match as it was very tough. I then tried to shoot the last arrow as calmly as I could and I won. Although I was 5-point behind, I kept my concentration and tried to shoot every arrow in the 10. It worked out great! We have a tradition of winning in Korea and I was watching archery when I was a kid. I am very proud to carry on the torch. I will now think about Beijing 2008, but right now I am very happy with my World Champion title!   Baljinima Tsyrempilov (RUS) – silver medal I was very nervous as Korea is always a strong opponent. This match was difficult all the time. My excitement lasted until the last arrow. Now I’m happy with my silver medal.   Alan Wills (GBR) – bronze medal I wish I wouldn’t have to compete with someone from my own country. But now it happened that it was Simon Terry. I can hardly describe how happy I was in the shoot-off when I was shooting a 10 while he was shooting a 9.   Recurve Women   Natalia Valeeva (ITA) – gold medal It’s extremely exciting to win against such a strong rival like Park Sung-Hyun from Korea. The competition was tough and difficult. Now I just want to celebrate my victory. It’s a great Championship with two Italian titles and six Olympic places. I would to thank all my supporters and my family back in Italia, because they have made my return to high level competition as easy as possible. You know I am a mother of three kids, including twins who are one year old. It’s a great feeling to win the Outdoor World Championships twelve years after my first title. This is the most difficult title to win, especially with only a 36-pound bow. Most of the archers, like the Koreans, draw more weight and they have an advantage. If I shoot more pounds, I get injured. My last injury was three months before the Olympic Games in Athens. Now, I shoot more with my brain and my skill. I am very, very happy for me and the Italian federation!   Sung-Hyun Park (KOR) – silver medal During the match I didn’t have everything under control. Even though I’m content with my silver medal, I’d have prefered to win gold.   Natalya Erdyniyeva (RUS) – bronze medal My expectations weren’t so high after I lost against Natalia Valeeva in the semi-final. I didn’t even expect to win the bronze medal against Jennifer Nichols until the last arrow. I was really nervous and I’m glad it’s over now. I’ll celebrate later with my family at home.   Jennifer Nichols (USA) It’s an exciting experience. This is my first time in the final matches, either at a World Cup or a World Championships. The semi-final was difficult, I was trying to get set on the field. I shot my best arrows during the bronze medal match, but it wasn’t enough. Anyway, I enjoyed very much these World Championships. It’s a moving experience.   Compound Men   Dietmar Trillus (CAN) – gold medal I really didn’t expect to win the gold medal. While I was waiting for the shooting I wasn’t nervous at all. But once on the field, I started to shake. Anyway, I did my best and it worked out. To be the winner is really the best feeling I ever had in my whole life! Moreover, I’m very happy to be in Germany. I was born in Langenfeld and went to Canada with my parents when I was three years old. It’s the first time for me that I’m back here since then and I also used the last week in Leipzig to refresh my German.   Braden Gellenthien (USA) – silver medal At my last arrow in the match and during the shoot-off, I was nervous and shaky so that I didn’t set my shot properly. The shot broke with the pin in the 9th ring. I shot two 9s, when I needed 10 to win.   Martin Damsbo (DEN) – bronze medal The feeling on the field with all the audience around was so amazing! I was more tensed now than in the qualification round. Jose Duo was an equal opponent so that we had a tough match. I really hoped until the last arrow that I’d make the bronze medal.   Jose Duo (ESP) I fought until the last arrow, but it didn’t work out. Martin Damsbo and I shoot on the same level so I knew it’d be tight. In addition to that, I was quite nervous. Now I’m disappointed, of course.   Compound Women   Eugenia Salvi (ITA) – gold medal I was quite tensed and tension is extremely necessary to receive good results. If there’s no tension at all, the performance just can’t be well. However it’s never easy. We were very well prepared and tried to concentrate only on the matches. That’s why our expectations were also high in advance. Among such top level archers there are just slight differences in the shooting performance. Thus I really had to wait and hope until the last arrow. Luckily, I was calm and shooting perfectly.   Albina Loginova (RUS) – silver medal This final for gold is difficult to explain. I was really nervous and that probably cost me a few points at the beginning of the match.   Amandine Bouillot (FRA) – bronze medal It was the first time for me that I made it to the finals so I was really excited. It was a tough match, especially the shoot-off in the end. I’m incredibly happy that I made it after all. I was a bit less nervous than in the semi-final. I was more solid with my shot. I was too nervous with my last arrow. My 8 was only good enough to go to the shoot-off, while I could have won the game. Fortunately, I was able to react positively and nail a 10 in the shoot-off. Yesterday, we were 4th with the team but I also took it positively. Fourth at a World Championships isn’t bad after all. I knew I had another chance today and I slept well. I am told that this is the first individual medal from France since the World Champion title of Pellen in 1999. I am very happy.   Irina Markovic (NED) I’m happy anyway that I came so far. It was just very tight and I was too nervous. Unfortunately, my performance wasn’t well enough to win the bronze medal.
  Officials and fans   Philippe Bouclet (FRA) – FITA Vice-President The level of the archers has raised a lot since two years ago in Madrid. There are also a lot of new countries that are good. The organisers were great. The finals had a lot of rhythm and passion.   Vladimir Esheev (RUS) – FITA Council It is very good here. It follows the same format as in the World Cup and it is good to show the quality of the archery product. As you know, there is a lot of “ordnung” (order) in Germany and it was shown during the perfect organisation of these World Championships.   Alper Kostem, CEO of Meteksan – FITA Title Sponsor of the World Cup It’s really nice. I didn’t except so many people. The stands are full! The lay-out of the field is very professional. It shows the success of the new FITA management.   Um Sung Ho (KOR) – Delegate and Asian Archery Council Member Generally speaking it was very well organized. Especially the final venue had an exceptional design. The stands look great with 3’000 fans. We are of course very happy with the Korean gold medals.   Park Young Sooh (KOR) – FITA Judge I competed at many World Championships. I was there in 1979, in Germany, and I believe it was the first Korean participation. Back then, every body was watching the American archers. Then, of course, Korea has had its fair share of coverage for the last 25 years. However, in Leipzig, I think there are many countries with high level and it is great to see so many countries shooting for medals today and yesterday.   Magdalena and Carolina (POL) It was exciting to be here. We come from Jedrzejow (POL). We were cheering for the Polish team yesterday. They shot well but they didn’t win. We think they were too much stressed! We enjoyed our time very much!   Thomas Röher (GER) The Bhutan team came to my town for three months thanks to the help of the German government. I am myself the Vice-President of the German Federation of Archery that works in parallel with the DSB that organized these World Championships. I was asked if I could help the Bhutan team and I became their team manager. It has been a great World Championships and I think people from 200 clubs in Germany came to watch it. It’s a lot of people and a great atmosphere.   Stefanie and Lena (GER) Fantastic! It was cool! We cheered for the English men team. We think they are awesome. We knew a bit about archery, because we know the people in the club in our town.   Kathleen (GER) Perfect! Very good! I am not an archer myself. It was very impressive to see them.   Roland (GER) I came from Kassel. The organisation here was super. I was impressed with the high level of the matches.   Anja Zimmermann / Didier Miéville FITA Communication