Fauconnet Thibaut (FRA)
Well, finally it’s the fourth place. It was really tough, I was behind and I couldn’t find the way to pass them. I tried everything, but this was the best that I could do. I’ve finished with the individual distances, so my next task is to focus on the relay, I hope that we’ll make it to the semi-finals.
Vladislav Bykanov (ISR)
It was a bit better than yesterday, but still not perfect. It was an easy race, but I tried to be fully focused. You never know what kind of race you’re going to get, it’s always a bit different, the speed the tactics, so you always have to be ready, but I’m ready to race and I really enjoy my time on the ice so far.
Roberto Pukitis (LAT)
I was just going inside, and someone pushed me, so we both fell, it happens. Personally I think that my speed could have been better, and fortunately I’ll have time to improve in the next round.
Charles Hamelin (CAN)
It was a normal race, and I think it went pretty well. The plan for us is just to make sure about our spot at the Olympics as fast as we can and I think that so far we’re achieving it pretty well. It’s a good start for us, but of course for tomorrow and for Sunday, it will be another game plan. In general, I felt pretty good, the ice was a bit better than yesterday and I’m really positive about tomorrow and about Sunday. So far it’s good, now we have to concentrate always on the next step.
Edin Brankovic, BIH
I’m not so satisfied because my blades are a bit damaged. I have another one, but I didn’t skate with them so it’s something new for me now during the competition. I am surprised of what happened, I didn’t expect it. I think this is the end of my race.
Peter Murphy, LUX
It was a hard race, I kind of got a little wrong tacticly, I led a bit too much at the beginning, that was a mistake because at the end, I just had nothing left. I’m not completely satisfied with my performance, but I think today it was a step into the right direction. I definitely feel that I can give a lot more.
Sean McAnuff, IRL
I’m happy with how I’ve been racing. Obviously, I’m trying to qualify, but sometimes it doesn’t work out, so gotta take the positive traits and build up those for the competition to come. I’ll be staying here, so I’ll watch the competition to learn even more about my competion, super important it is to see things every skater does.
Kristen Santos (USA)
Everything was alright, I am happy because I qualified into the next section. I need to improve a lot for example sometimes I stock in because I waste so much time with planning the next move. Another thing is that I am concentrating on one person in front of me not on everybody. Tonight we will have the relay and we would like to qualify for the Olympics.
Suzanne Schulting NED
It was a pretty good start. Today I feel myself strong, I am okay, it is another chance. I would like to qualify to the finals. I think I have got really good chances on 1000 meters. My goal is to win a medal and I think I can do that. Our relay team is really good too so everything is going to be fine.
Sumire Kikuchi JPN
It was a good start of the day. I can say that I am satisfied but I had to fight very much.
Renáta Szőcs ROM
I am not so happy with the result. I got a very hard round and my competition was not like how I expected. The preparation during the summer was not hard enough. I hope I can get ready for the next championship and I can reach a better result.
Anja Chong MAS
It was not a great race. I could not be as fast as I wanted to but this is sport and racing. I will try again next weekend. I have got so many areas to improve but this is my second season of racing and my first world cup so I am still learning and it was a very good experience.
Pierron Veronique FRA
It was a good race, but the ice is not so fast so I changed my strategy for the rest of the competition. We will see. I will have relay tonight and we would like to qualify the team to the Olympic games and myself for the finals too.
Tristan Navarro FRA
I am very happy, I wanted to be in the first two places, and I succeeded. I feel good right now, I do not really like the ice, because it is not fast, but it is okay.
NG Lucas SGP
It is a definitely good experience for me. It is my first world cup and hopefully I will get a good ranking. I am trying to stay positive. The quality of the ice is not the best but I am focusing on what I am doing and try to keep in my mind everything I have been practicing. I like the atmosphere of the venue and Budapest too.
Anna Seidel (GER)
I’m really happy with my race today, because yesterday was not really my day, so it feels good to do well again. Yesterday I was really nervous, so I guess the thing that has changed is my mentality, today I’m more relaxed and it worked. So far I really enjoy my time here in Hungary, the city is beautiful, the rink is awesome and also the people are very friendly. I’m really happy that I’ve qualified to the next round, it will be very hard tomorrow, but I’ll try my best and see what happens.
2nd day mixed zone interviews (relay)
Canadian women’s relay, Jamie McDonald and Marianne St. Gelais
M.S.G.: Our goal is always to go to the next round, which we did with this one. Tomorrow is the day of the semi-finals and we expect ourselves to be in the final. If I had to bet, I would bet on my team for sure. I think we’ll be able to win the gold medal, if we skate as we did today, and in the past few days.
J.M.: Everything went perfect, we had really goodish changes, we kept our speed well, so we were working well as a team. We had also race specific trainings, changed up the order, and learned how to adjust to the new situation. And also, we get to know each other very well.
Canadian men’s relay, Pascal Dion
I think this was a very good relay for us, we didn’t do a lot of mistakes. The thing that happened at the last change was that a guy was in the way and we missed the last relay but without that, we can be happy. We’ll learn from this case, watch it again to be sure that we won’t do it once more. For sure, we want to get into the final, our goal is to be in the top four in the end.
Arianna Fontana (ITA)
We’re pretty happy with the result, we were skating well, we were able to fulfil our plans. It was good that a few of our young girls were able to race too, they were doing an amazing job, and it was good to have some fresh legs. Today was a good day both in the individual races, and in the relay. Of course there’s always room for improvement, but I think we can be happy about our performance. I think if we do our best, we can compete with the top nations and I hope we’ll have the chance to prove this in the final too.
Yuri Confortola (ITA)
It’s really nice to compete here in Budapest, the atmosphere is amazing and the ice is good too. We had a tough day, not all the time successful, but maybe tomorrow will be better. I still have the 1000 m on Sunday, I’ll try to reach a good result, it would be good to get into the semi final, but I know that it won’t be easy.
Joshua Cheetham (GB)
I think it was good, we started off quite well, we felt really confident at the start and during the first part of the race. Of course it’s unfortunate that we couldn’t manage to have the second position, but I think at this part of the game, it’s more important that we saw we can stick to the plan that we came up with and everyone could do their job.
Tristan Navarro (FRA)
The relay was good, the ice not so much, but it is the same for everybody. We had to pay attention not to fall. Now, we have to stay focused and check who will be our opponennts in the next round. I hope to get through the semi final and take the maximum scores to qualify the relay.
Rafal Anikiej (POL)
Unfortunately, three members of our relay team got sick just a few days before the competition, so our energy level was quite low, but we tried to do our best. I’m personally happy for the team, because despite the circumstances, we did pretty well, we even managed to keep up with them in the first half of the race. I feel like we are on the right path, so we just have to keep working this way and get ready for the next world cups.
Suzanne Schulting (NED)
I’m really happy, the team did a very good job today, in the previous round, we had the fourth heat, which was pretty bad because the race was really slow, the ice was wide, but we made it and now it was a lot better. We had a great race against Russia, they were really strong, and i’m happy that we managed to get to the semi finals.
