Romanian athlete Catalin Chirila said on Friday, after winning the Final B Men's Canoe Single 1000m at the Paris Olympics, that he deems the missed semi-final a lesson and that the weather was a hindrance to his race for a medal.
"I think it's too much to say that I had expectations, I truly wanted to, but I can't say that I had expectations, because I had to take each race step by step, to live it at maximum intensity and in the end I was to reach the goal. Unfortunately, I didn't reach the goal I set for myself and this is a lesson for me. I will remember the Olympics for the rest of my life for sure. At least this edition. It has been a very hard year, full of emotions and I think I still need some time to strengthen myself as an athlete or maybe even as a man. Maybe I need more training to be able to climb the highest step of the podium. There was indeed pressure, I felt it, but it was not the main reason that pushed me to Final B. Before the start of the semifinals I was very relaxed, relying on my own strengths. I knew if I stuck to my strategy, everything would be fine. Again, I come back to the same conclusion, you don't mess with the weather. The waves and the wind got in the way. There were technical details that I didn't follow strictly and that cost me. But there are no excuses in sport, after all that's what it's all about. In the Final B the wind was channeled, it blew from the right side, just as I prepared myself in Snagov. It was not meant to be," said Chirila.
"In the semifinals I was not able to cope with the weather conditions and those waves actually knocked me off my rhythm, which took me off course. At a certain point, I had to concentrate more on the rudder than on the paddles with which I was supposed to be moving forward. I stuck to my tactics until the last few meters. In that respect it was exceptional. I felt that I was up on my opponents, but the advantage that they had in the last part of the race took its toll. I lost those hundredths in the last few meters. I controlled the race very well in the first part, I rowed in a relaxed manner, I knew I could trigger the finish. And I did it in the last 300 meters, I went up, but you can't compete with the weather. This is the main conclusion I can draw," explained the Romanian athlete.
Chirila said that he wants the failure at the 2024 Olympic Games, painful as it was, to be a valuable lesson for him, being confident in his future, adding that he believes that to become a better athlete he should also develop on the human side.
"Sure it could be a base for Los Angeles, but I don't want to think too far ahead. I don't even want to think about the Olympics. I want to build a great career, to get results every year in every competition I participate in. I will let time pass, I will definitely stick to my habit of being a hard-working athlete, I like to dedicate myself to every training. I think that I will not shy away from anything that I have done so far, I will remain the same Catalin and I will work the same for the same dream. I am confident and I am sure that after another Olympic cycle I will play my chance much stronger. I needed that composure, we have often talked about composure, although we are talking about a fast race, which passes very quickly. You need that stillness. It's just a stage of life, a lesson that I've received now. Thank God that now I am standing and speaking to you," said Catalin Chirila.
Romanian athlete Catalin Chirila clearly won the Final B Men's Canoe Single 1000m Canoe at the Paris Olympics on Friday, clocking at 3 min 47 sec 48/100, and finishing ninth overall.
Chirila, world champion in 2022 and vice world champion in 2023, ranked fifth in the semifinals and missed out on Final A (3 min 45 sec 78/10.
Romania hasn't won an Olympic medal in kayak-canoe since Sydney in 2000, when Florin Popescu and Mitica Pricop won two medals in the men's canoe double, gold in the 1,000m and bronze in the 500m.
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