The final spots for the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games were confirmed today on the Rotsee in Lucerne, Switzerland. Listen in to the reactions of athletes after a rainy - but happy day of racing.
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00:00 To be honest I don't really have it yet because it's so much work. I dedicate four years of
00:09 my life since my accident to this project. I put all the work in that, a lot of sacrifice
00:20 and I don't realize I tried to take the race as usual 200 meters, 200 or 1000 I don't know.
00:31 So it was robotic but at the end I knew it was right. I knew at the end I wanted to push
00:38 more and more and for my family, for the staff, for the people who support me since my accident
00:46 from the beginning. It feels amazing, like last year I got sick at the walls and we were
00:51 really confident last year. So this is just really amazing to be here once again and the
00:59 others are really good. So we were really excited about it but terrified anyway. But
01:07 it feels so good. Yeah it was a special moment to cross the finish line first. We wouldn't
01:14 have believed it had anybody told us before the weekend. But right now as we start to
01:21 realize I think it's a great feeling and we're looking forward to the coming challenges to
01:27 Paris. We'll give it our best even though we know we're in kind of an underdog role
01:37 as qualifying after the fact. Man I was just so focused on the race because it's been such
01:47 a long journey to get here. So really listen to Ima's calls. I'm sitting in between two
01:52 Olympic bronze medalists so I just had to trust they know what they're doing and it
01:56 feels amazing. Like all four of us have had a really crazy journey to get here so it just
02:02 feels like hard work really pays off. And to be fair anyone can do this if they work
02:08 hard. It's a pretty crazy thought. It's my first Olympics. For the other guys it's their
02:14 third so they're kind of used to it but it's something I will have to elaborate in the
02:20 next day or so. But I'm really excited. The boat is doing well all season long so I'm
02:28 ready for the big stage. We were really upset when Brazil beat us on the first 500 and the
02:41 next one kilometers we were upset but we found it strange. We found our strength to do a
02:53 fast finish and we did it. Amazing. It was just magic how to see the progress we can
03:03 do in the race. The pleasure to go together and the joy of the speed. It was free speed
03:16 all along the race so it was so so fun. I'm so happy for the result because we had a hard
03:22 winter to both. Winning here is just amazing. We really want to go to Paris. Now it's done
03:31 it's a lot of pressure but now we have the big step for the Olympics. You are very happy.
03:38 You go to the Paralympic Games in September. You are a new boat. This lake is formidable.
03:51 It's beautiful. The sun is not here but we are winning. We are happy. Thank you. I'm
04:01 really sorry. It's so hard speaking after the race. I'm really relieved because I was
04:11 so stressed yesterday and now I'm just glad that this whole stress event like the regatta
04:19 is done for us. Now I can't realize it. It's my first Olympics and I'm so excited. I can't
04:28 put it into words. This means so much to us. It's been one of the hardest 10 months of
04:33 our lives. It crushed us last year with the result not qualifying. It's surreal. It's
04:43 all fun now. We are fit. We are ready to go. We head back to America and get a couple more
04:49 weeks of training. We are ready to go for the Olympics. We just wanted to do our best
04:54 time that we could do. Conditions were not perfect but I'm at least super satisfied of
05:01 everything. How we started, the whole process, how we responded every single time to our
05:07 commands and we are really a team. I'm so happy. It's not even describable. I can't
05:15 describe it in words. It's just an incredible feeling. Absolutely. Every race we've done,
05:21 we've done so many visualizations of the same thing. It felt like the 100th time we've done
05:26 that race. You sit in the middle. You're okay. You're comfortable. You don't freak out. Then
05:31 you sell everything in that last half and never doubt what you can do. Every moment
05:36 was intentional and planned. We held our rhythm and it was great all the way to the end holding
05:42 that sprint and just knowing that we had the power and stamina to get all the way to the
05:45 end. I think it went pretty much as planned. We wanted to get out quick. I think we did.
05:51 I think we had the lead pretty early on. Then we just stayed where we were. Didn't do too
05:56 much for 750 meters. Then at the K, we had a slight move but stuck to the same rhythm.
06:02 Then we just tried to take up gradually towards the finish line, which we were able to do.
06:07 There were some good charges coming from the US and from Estonia especially, but we were
06:11 able to hold them off. We're very pleased with that. It's the first time we've been forced
06:14 to sprint. I think we did a pretty good job. It was a very, very good race. It was what
06:22 me and the coach established. It's a dream come true.
06:27 I don't know. I'm very happy. I don't understand what happened. I'm grateful. We go to Paris.
06:40 I have no words. I'm so happy. This is unbelievable. I'm so happy.
06:47 I think the race for lanes was our first race as a crew. We hit it hard and just kept going
06:53 and felt really good. It was just replicating that and not taking anything for granted,
06:58 knowing everyone had their back against the wall and only two boats could go. Just trying
07:01 to lead from the first stroke, not let up and stretch out the lead as far as we can.
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