MIKE RODGERS (USA – 100 m, 1st place 10.16s): “I started this season only in June so I still feel pretty OK. I have planned around 12 competitions for this summer and still 3 of them ahead of me. I did not have any special peak, just to run fast. I guess I will start the preparation for indoors straight away. I have been in Slovakia many times before and I know it well. I like running with my boys – Volko and others, we became friends.”
JÁN VOLKO (SVK – 100m, 4th place, and 10.38s): “It was not bad today. Despite the fact that it was the 4th place, I feel OK with it. It just confirmed that it is always hard to come back on the competition level after the injury. Maybe it was the little tiredness mostly because of the travelling. If I must evaluate the 2020 season, it was very specific especially the recent coronavirus situation.
CINDY OFILI (GBR. – 100m hurdles, 1st place, 12.99 s): “This season is really weird but I felt good and safe here in Samorin. I do not have problem with masks or the social distancing. The result under 13 seconds is good – it is always good under 13. I am going back to the US after the season, just a couple of meets, and I will get ready for the indoors.
RASMUS MÄGI (EST – 400m hurdles, 1st place, 49.32s): “The weather was on our side tonight. The conditions were almost ideal. This is a very nice complex and I felt great here. Despite the fact that this season did not have any championships, it was refreshing for me. I have been a long time on the circuit and this kind of break works well for me. I had the chance to experiment a bit – to try things with the new distances. I tried to take things positive and now I am ready for meeting in Berlin.
ANNA RYZHYKOVA (UKR – 400 m hurdles, 1st place, 55.21s): “I am glad for the victory but I made a huge mistake in the finish and it costed me better time. Today, I had a very strong opponent – Emma Zapletalová, who unfortunately fell. I hope she is fine. She is a very talented young hurdler and she is just on the start of her future career.”
GABRIELA GAJANOVÁ (SVK – 800m, 1st place, 2:01.26 min): “I am really shocked for my performance. My tactics was to really speed it up in the last 200m and I managed it well. I wanted to show the “old Gabika” as I used to be some time ago. Step by step, I am approaching my main target – my personal best. I a glad that it was right here in Samorin, where I managed to achieve such a good time and win. It was thanks to my coach and also thanks to my mental coach and physio. The victory tastes great.”
NASTASIA MIRONCHYK-IVANOVA (BLR – long jump, 1st place, 670cm): “I am extremely satisfied with the meeting organisation and also the whole competition. You have a beautiful training complex here and I enjoyed not only this area but also the long walks near Danube. I definitely come back if I get the chance in the future. I would love to thank to all the organising team for doing such a good job.
TOMÁŠ VESZELKA (SR – triple jump, 1st place, and 16.69m): “I am over the moon that I managed to win with the season best. My plan was to show two solid attempts because I have a slight injury – bruised heel. Only the one who have ever experienced something like that knows that it is impossible to jump with it.
CHRISTIAN TAYLOR (USA – triple jump men, 2nd, 16.53m): “The second place is OK for me because I was jumping from a shorter approach. I needed to spare my legs a bit. I am planning Berlin now. This is my second time in Samorin and I like this place so much. Also, it is not far from Vienna, where I live now. I was talking to Veszelka, who is a talented guy – we were talking about possible cooperation. Maybe it would be helpful for both of us.
MAXIM NEDASEKAU (BLR – high jump, 1st place, 225cm): “This is already my second time in Samorin and I like it very much. I am very glad that I won tonight. Unfortunately, I had some troubles with my spike so I could not go over 230. Same as in Ostrava, I still feel a bit sick – sore throat so it affected my performance a bit. ”
JOCHEM DOBBER (NED – 400m, 1st place, 46.01s): “I never expect a victory coming to the competition. I try to stay focused and calm. But I am confident enough and I wanted to fight for the first place. I am very glad for my season this year. I had some 10-11 starts and I managed to go 45 seconds a couple of times. I missed it just by a hundredth of a second tonight – maybe I start to feel only a bit tired as the season turns to the end. In Samorin, I feel a bit like at home. I also train in the sport complex like this but it is not that luxurious. It is a very nice complex.”
HRÍSTOS FRANTZESKÁKIS (GRE – Hammer Throw Men, 1st place, 75.34m): “Coming to this competition, I did not feel enough motivation and power so I cannot be satisfied despite the fact that I won. Everything was great – the weather, the circle, the conditions… but I felt a bit flat. I achieved my target already last week at the competition in Poland and I felt that this was the peak of my season. You cannot save the best throw for the last attmept – it would not work for well when you compete at the Olympics. I still have one more competition in Kladno so I hope I find more power and motivation again.”
MARTINA HRAŠNOVÁ (SVK – Hammer Throw women, 1st place. 69.86m): “I was trying to hit the 70m but my hammer flew two times under this level. Pity, I missed it by a few centimetres. My opponents were good. Maybe if they pushed me a bit more, it would have helped me to throw even further. Actually, I feel physically well.
MARCEL LOMNICKÝ (SVK – hammer throw men, 2nd place 74.48m): “I think my throwing was good today. The only problem was that the hammer did not fly far enough. The circle in Samorin is good but also a bit too slow. I used to brush it in the past a bit but still, it is just slow. My result was not bad today, but it was not enough for the win. Despiute the fact that the tribunes had a limited number of visitors; I felt they were pushing me forward.”
LAVIAI NILSEN (GBR – 400m, 1st place, 51.70 s): “I came to this competition with the plan that I start relaxed and will push it to the finish. I really had to fight till the end. My opponents were well prepared. I am glad that I managed to win because the track is really good and I also like this place very much. Now, I have the last meeting of this season in Rome and I hope the next season will be better than this one. It gave me a lot of motivation.
MIROSLAV ÚRADNÍK (SVK – race walk, 1st place, 11:07.21 min): “I believed I am able to achieve such time. The victory and the world leading time is great. At this distance, you must go start to finish, full speed from the beginning. After the great start, I managed to keep the pace until the finish line and that was the key for this nice result.”
MÁRIA KATERINKA CZAKOVÁ (SVK – race walk, 1st place 12:35.99 min): “The most important thing was that I managed to go under 13 minutes. We have all these competitions with the target to go 20km in a high speed tempo. But I do not know whether it is going to be in Podebrady or different place due to the corona situation. I like the condition on the track tonight as it was not too hot and the air was fresh – much better than the last year.”