First 60.91 meters, then 65.31 – that was enough for discus thrower Lukas Weißhaidinger so that nobody could contest his seventh title at the state championships. “We had put in a tough week of training, and it was planned to do only the bare essentials here,” explained the man from the Innviertel region, who was also forced to take it easy because of back problems. Because of this, the 30-year-old is now canceling his start in the Diamond League on Thursday in Stockholm: “It makes no sense to take an unnecessary risk just under three weeks before the World Cup. Of course the cancellation hurts.” The Olympic bronze medalist has already qualified for the Diamond League final.
Double strike from Walli
Susanne Walli (TGW Zehnkampf-Union) managed a double strike at the state championships, sprinting to the title both over her special distance 400 meters and over the 200 meters. The Olympic semi-finalist achieved the latter in 23.39 seconds (personal best time). The 26-year-old from Linz collected points for the World Cup qualification over the entire stadium round.
While Verena Mayr was still injured, fellow heptathlon teammate Ivona Dadic won bronze in the shot put and over 100 meters hurdles. In the latter, the native of Welser had to give way to premiere state champion Lena Lackner (ATSV Linz) and Johanna Plank (decathlon union). Leo Köhldorfer (ULC Linz Oberbank) secured the 400 meter hurdles victory in 50.65 seconds (Upper Austria record).
The titles in the triple jump went to Linz with the premiere winner Jana Schnabl (ULC) and Endiorass Kingley (decathlon U.). In the pole vault, Lisa Gruber (LAC Amateure Steyr) showed by defending her title from last year that the 17-year-old is on the up again after a long illness.
“Beginner” became runner-up
The men’s 100-meter sprint ended remarkably. Although the favorite, Markus Fuchs, was ahead after 10.20 seconds, a surprise man, Josef Mennel (10.50), crossed the finish line in second place. According to “Vorarlberger Neue”, the 25-year-old from Dornbirn only started professional athletics training in the fall. The final was only the fourth 100-meter run of his career.
Source: Nachrichten
