'It's like watching the last 10 minutes of a movie' - Olivier on making her Olympics debut
Esti Olivier competes in both the K1 a solo kayak and a K2 which is a tandem.
Canoe sprint star Esti Olivier training ahead of the Paris Olympic Games.Picture: Jacques Nelles/ Eyewitness News.
JOHANNESBURG – Olympic canoeist Esti Olivier will be representing South Africa in the canoe sprint and said that making the Paris Olympic Games team was like watching the last 10 minutes of a movie as if everything was coming full circle.
"It almost feels like, you know, when you watch a movie and then load shedding, like 10 minutes before the end. And now it feels like finally, I get to watch that last 10 minutes of the movie that I've been watching my entire life over and over, up until one point, and then it stops, and then you go again. So, it just feels like everything's coming full circle, especially after the disappointment of Tokyo. That was a that was a lot of character-building."
The canoe sprint takes place on a flatwater course and races are contested by two types of boat - canoe (C) and kayak (K). In a canoe, the paddler competes in a striding position using a single-blade paddle, in contrast to the double-bladed paddle used in a sitting position in a kayak.
READ: Canoeist Esti Olivier rises above personal battles to clinch a ticket to Paris
"So, at the Games, the women only have 500 meters. So, I'll be doing K2, which is doubles, and K1 which is singles, 500 meters. Both at World Champs and World Cups, we've got 200m, 500m and 1,000m, but at the Olympics, we only have the 500 meters."
Olivier and Tiffany Koch beat former world surfski champion, Michelle Burn, and 2012 Olympic bronze medallist, Bridgitte Hartley, in the final leg of the three-race shootout to earn the women’s 500m K2 place in the team to go to Paris.
"With Tiff living in Durban, our focus will be to improve on our individual shortfalls, and then to work on the technical aspects of the K2, especially the race plan, when we get together for training. I try to fly down to Durban at least once a month, work and life allowing," said Olivier.
The athlete competes in both the K1, a solo kayak, and the K2, which is a tandem. She said that transitioning between the two was easy as the objective was to go as fast as you could in the 500m.
"It also helps to be paired with Tiff, as we have been through so much together already and understand how the other reacts to stress and pressure. We know that no matter what, when we get on the water, it is go time. Leave everything else on the bank."
The canoe sprint star grew up exposed to sport. Her dad used to participate in triathlons when canoeing formed part of the multisport event.
When her father retired from partaking in triathlons, he continued canoeing.
"So, I was always next to the water taking in all the information and coaching instructions. So, by the time I got into a boat it kind of just came naturally to me," said Olivier.
She has won the K1 500m and, alongside Helen Jansen van Vureen, the K2 500m at the 2023 Africa Canoe Sprint Championships in Abuja, Nigeria.
She's also won three gold medals at the 2019 African Games in Morocco, K1 200m, K1 500m, K4 500m.
"At the Paris Olympic Games, I'm gunning for an A final. You know, everyone wants a medal, and I'm not lining up to lose. I think a big goal and a big box to tick would be an A final, for sure. That's the top eight at my first Olympics. I'd be pretty chuffed for that."