Verena Mayr (4525 points) won the Austrian indoor championships in the all-around in the Linz Tips Arena ahead of Ivona Dadic (4408) and Sarah Lagger (4319). For the 29-year-old, who had moved her training center to Nice at the end of the previous year, the victory against the high-class competition was confirmation.
“I’m very happy because we weren’t actually planning on scoring 4,500 points,” said the Ebensee native, who by “we” meant herself and neo-coach Rudy Bourguignon. The Frenchman accompanied Mayr to the championships in Linz, where he was also able to exchange ideas with his predecessor Wolfgang Adler – who has been working at the Swiss Bobsleigh and Luge Association since last year.
- Also read: Ivona Dadic: “It feels like coming home”
“I was very happy that he was there. He really liked the athletics facilities in Linz and the Olympic Center,” said Mayr, who did a little – if you will – sports sightseeing with her coach. With her fourth indoor ÖM title, Mayr caught up with record winners Dadic and Elisabeth Plazotta.
With 4,525 points, Mayr ranks sixth in the world annual best list. She is only three points short of the top five who can take part in the World Indoor Championships in Glasgow. “It’s a shame, but you have to wait and see whether everyone really starts or whether someone cancels,” said the Union Ebensee athlete, who also took home the 30 bonus points for the Olympic qualifying race for the title.
“I think Verena will qualify for Paris. Now she has taken the first step,” predicted Roland Werthner. The regional association president was pleased about the successful championship – and that the men’s title went to Leo Lasch (5439) from his club TGW Decathlon Union.
Record by Julia Mayer
Meanwhile, despite windy conditions in Barcelona, Julia Mayer ran to tenth place and an Austrian record in 1:11:09 hours. Her coach Vincent Vermeulen couldn’t stop cheering, as two days earlier his son Mika Vermeulen had finished third in Canmore (Can) and stood on the podium of a cross-country skiing World Cup for the first time.
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