Kitesurfing champ Toni Vodišek is used to whizzing along at 80km/h - but in this exclusive video he’s at a rather more sedate pace, cycling around his hometown of Koper in Slovenia with CGTN’s correspondent Pablo Gutierrez. ♂️
The 2023 Vice World Champion and 2022 European and World Champion is aiming for gold in Paris, where Formula kite racing will debut. ✨
#Paris2024 #OlympicDream #Olympics #Slovenia
The 2023 Vice World Champion and 2022 European and World Champion is aiming for gold in Paris, where Formula kite racing will debut. ✨
#Paris2024 #OlympicDream #Olympics #Slovenia
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00So, Tony, this is where the love for the water was born for you, right?
00:08For sure.
00:09We've always, since I can remember, had a boat here, we'd go wakeboarding and then later
00:15on foiling behind the boat, but with the kite, it was just next level.
00:23I was here in the water playing around all my life.
00:28You've been around the world, but this is always home.
00:31This is for sure always going to be home, I'll always come back.
00:36I've seen many, many really beautiful places, but this place is always going to have a special
00:41place in my heart.
00:43It's small, with e-bikes all around town, no problem, better than the car.
00:48And just so peaceful, a beautiful place to relax and reset.
00:52How do you feel when you're out here, alone, just with the wind on your back?
01:00It feels amazing because, of course, I know all the spots, I know where the people are
01:05swimming and I do love to go and show off a little bit, go there, maybe make a little
01:12jump.
01:13And it's just so nice to see everybody popping out their phones to film and to wave at you.
01:20Sometimes you're going to see some bigger sailing boats, you go by, you say hello, you
01:26make a jump, they're like, whoa, they give you a beer or something.
01:30Are you becoming a local celebrity after all the international competitions?
01:36Yeah, I wouldn't want to just be a celebrity.
01:38I just hope to be a good inspiration and a good image for the youth and the next generations
01:44coming up.
01:46You know, there's a lot of responsibility.
01:48This is going to be the first time this sport is featured on a world stage like this and
01:55you know, being part of it, that's something special, right?
01:58It definitely is.
02:01Whenever I'm thinking about it, my heart's pounding.
02:03When I made it into the Games at the beginning, I was just so excited.
02:09And just for the sport to become Olympic was just for everything being stepped up to the
02:15next level.
02:16And I'd say the responsibility of not just doing the sport, but also how you act and
02:23you can't really do much stupid stuff, you know, there's young kids going around doing
02:28stupid stuff, you know, yeah, no, it's...
02:32How hard are you training right now, Tony?
02:34Well, I'll say it like this.
02:36The other day when I woke up, I thought I was fine when I went to sleep and then my
02:42legs were barely holding me up.
02:45For sure, it's not just physical, mental battles are also hard and the mentality that you have
02:52to have, because it's, especially for us, it's not just a one day, 10 minute regatta,
02:57but it spans off of five days and a lot of time on the water.
03:03Is your sister going to be cheering you on in Paris?
03:08She definitely is.
03:10And I'm super happy for that and also very proud of her as she almost qualified as well.
03:16But 2028, LA is here for us, coming up and I do believe that we're going to be there
03:24together.
03:25Yeah.
03:26That's fantastic.
03:27Thank you, Tony.
03:28Thank you very much.