Justyna Święty-Ersetic, after competing in the mixed 4×400 m relay, entered the individual 400 m competition. Monday's eliminations were bittersweet for her – she achieved the best result in two years (50.95 s), which did not allow her to advance to the semi-finals. She can only get there through the repechages.
Justyna Święty-Ersetic is blunt about repechages at the Olympics. “I don't accept it”
Despite her best result in a long time, the athlete had mixed feelings after her start. “I'm not entirely happy,” she admitted in an interview with Interia Sport. That's because she was counting on a direct advancement to the semifinals. But she's happy that the work she's done recently has brought good results. “I've proven that I can still run fast,” she said.
Święty-Ersetic does not want to give up individual competition in favor of relays. However, she assesses the repechages unequivocally. – I do not like it. I hope it will be removed from the program as soon as possible. These are the Olympics and everyone should compete with pride and with all their strength, and not run through the eliminations because there are repechages. I do not like it. I do not accept it. I am not in favor of it and I did not want to do it myself – she confessed. – They came up with something stupid. I hope that after these Olympics they will withdraw from it very quickly – she added.
Justyna Święty-Ersetic bounced back from unsuccessful starts. “I'm just a fighter”
Despite everything, the 31-year-old enjoys her Olympic starts, which wasn't so obvious until recently. When she achieved a time of 53.68 seconds during the Janusz Kusociński Memorial in Chorzów in May, she began to have negative thoughts and doubts that affected her subsequent starts. It wasn't until some time later that she dealt with them and got back on track. What was behind it?
– I would have to use vulgar words here. It's probably because of my difficult character. I'm simply a fighter. Even though I tell myself that I don't want to do it anymore and that I'm too old, I wake up the next day and fight again. I also had a lot of friendly people around me – she explained. And she believes that the women's 4x400m relay team will have reasons to be happy.
In Monday's eliminations, another member of the relay, Natalia Kaczmarek, confirmed her good form. With a result of 49.98 seconds, she won her race and advanced to the semi-finals. – I want to get to the finals, but I know it's not an easy path. If I get there, I'll start thinking about what's next – that's how she answered when asked what her goal is.