Flash Quotes: Canoe Slalom: ESTANGUET (FRA)

RIO DE JANEIRO - Comments from retired men's C1 triple Olympic Games gold medallist and Rio 2016 race jury member Tony ESTANGUET (FRA) as high winds at Whitewater Stadium caused a one-hour delay to the start of the canoe slalom competition on Sunday.

Tony ESTANGUET (FRA)

On how the high winds can affect racing conditions:

"This is the most difficult thing for athletes because it is a precision sport so for sure we can deal with rain, we can deal with poor temperatures but the wind is really unpredictable and that is very difficult to manage.

"At the same time the athletes are used to competing with wind because it is a natural cause and we have many occasions to deal with these types of conditions.

"We don't like it but it is the situation. It is not easy because we know that anything can happen until the last minute so you can't control everything. Mental preparation is the most difficult thing to deal with but apart from this it is still possible to compete."

On how the paddlers will adjust:

"I would try to find a line with a little bit of margin for each gate to make sure that even if the gate will move a little bit in any way - because you don't know in which direction the gate will move - that I will still be in the middle without any penalties. So you need to take some easy lines - not so fast - to reduce the probability to have a penalty."