Hopeful Canadian Olympic first-timers get taste of pre-Paris spotlight

Canadian athletes who hope to make their Olympic debuts in Paris 2024 are getting a taste of the spotlight they'll face when they compete on one of the world's biggest sporting stages.

In a downtown Montreal hotel on Thursday, athletes were shepherded from room to room for nearly 12 hours of back-to-back interviews and photo shoots as part of a media day organized by the Canadian Olympic Committee.

For Eric Peters, who competes in archery, the camera flashes and increased scrutiny are both cool and "a little nerve-racking."

"I've kind of flown under the radar for a long time, and to be standing out like this is a new experience," he said in an interview.

WATCH | Ottawa's Peters claims silver at archery worlds:

Peters said his sport is low-profile enough that members of the public sometimes ask him whether he's a hunter. He doesn't know what to expect on the big Olympic stage, or what opportunities might come his way as a result, which is part of the excitement.

The moment he's most looking forward to is hearing the clock beep in Paris, and shooting his very first arrow.

Twenty-one year old gymnast Félix Dolci, for his part, is eager to use the Olympic run-up to help promote his sport to the wider public. The 21-year old Quebecer is brimming with confidence after a year that saw him win the Pan American artistic gymnastics all-around gold in Santiago, Chile, and help Canada qualify a full men's team for Paris for the first time since 2008.

"I really want to take advantage of [the attention] to forward the message that gymnastics is a crazy sport that makes you develop crazy abilities not only physically but mentally," he said.

"I love to be able to perform, show my sport, show my work. Showing my sport to my country