Estonians in Rio, Day 15: Triathlete motivated after placing 44th in Olympic debut
Estonian triathlete Kaidi Kivioja placed 44th overall in her Olympic debut on Saturday, finishing just nine and a half minutes behind the gold-winning Gwen Jorgensen. "But this is just the beginning."
Women's triathlon
With a time of 1:56:16, American Gwen Jorgensen took the gold in the women's triathlon, while Nicola Spirig of Switzerland earned silver with a time of 1:56:56 and Great Britain's Vicky Holland secured the bronze with a time of 1:57:01.
Estonian triathlete Kaidi Kivioja placed 44th overall, finishing 9 minutes and 26 seconds behind Jorgensen with a time of 2:05:42.
Following the 1.5- kilometer swim Kivioja was in 47th place, climing to 42nd after the 40-kilometer bike ride and dropping two places to 44th following the 10-kilometer run.
She crossed the finish line with a smile on her face, however, and did not let the seemingly huge loss dampen her spirits. "This was a very difficult competition — one of the most difficult competitions of my life," Kivioja told ETV following the triathlon. "But this is only the beginning. This was my first Olympics and I plan to compete in many more."
Admitting that she could feel that her endurance just didn't match that of her competition, Kivioja said that while as an athlete she couldn't be totally satisfied with her results, she felt that she wasn't ashamed of her performance either, and now was better prepared to train for her next Olympics in four years.
"Yes, I was 44th in the world," the Estonian triathlete pointed out. "Let's just say that I won't go cry in the Olympic Village. I'll continue to be positive and I gained a lot more motivation to do even better in the next Olympic cycles."
Two Estonians to compete on final day of competition in Rio
Estonian marathoners Roman Fosti and Tiidrek Nurme will be competing in the men's marathon on Sunday, the final day of Olympic competition in Rio. The men's marathon is scheduled to begin at 3:30 p.m. Estonian time.
SUNDAY, AUGUST 21*
*Note: All times listed in Eastern European Summer Time (EEST) +0300 UTC.
time | event | channel |
15:20-18:20 | Athletics | Vikerraadio |
15:20-17:30 | Volleyball: Men's bronze medal match | ETV2 |
16:30-16:55 | Rio 2016: Competition Day Preview | ETV |
16:55-18:30 | Gymnastics: Rhythmic all-around final | ETV |
17:30-19:15 | Basketball: Men's bronze medal match | ETV2 |
18:45-20:30 | Cycling: Men's road race | ETV |
19:15-21:15 | Volleyball: Men's final Italy-Brazil | ETV2 |
21:15-23:00 | Handball: Men's final Denmark-France | ETV2 |
21:35-00:00 | Basketball: Men's final Serbia-USA | ETV |
00:00-01:50 | Olympics Day 16 in Rio | ETV |
01:50-04:00 | Games of the XXXI Olympiad. Closing ceremony | ETV |
08:40-08:55 | Rio 2016: Competition Day Review | ETV |
Editor: Editor: Aili Sarapik