Athletics

Gogl-Walli sixth in 400 m final at World Indoor Championships!

Susanne Gogl-Walli

(Bild: GEPA)

Sensational Susanne Gogl-Walli! Even on the unfavorable indoor track, the athlete from Linz ran a new Austrian record of 51.37 in the 400 m final of the World Indoor Championships in Glasgow and finished sixth. At the top, Femke Bol improved her own world record to 49.17 seconds. 

"This is an incredible, beautiful finish for me at the World Championships. I never thought I could run such a time on track 1," enthused the 27-year-old, who lowered her own ÖLV record (51.43), set the day before in the preliminary heat, by a tenth. After the race, Gogl-Walli was in the arms of her coach Wolfi Adler, who also cheered enthusiastically: "I've always said that Susi is world class!"

(Bild: Thomas Windestam)

"I was able to keep up my pace!"
"The race was perfect, there were no jostles, I was able to keep up my pace. And I knew that the final had to be fast in this world-class field," said the Upper Austrian. And how fast the final was! Bol improved her own world record of 49.24, set this year in Apeldoorn, by seven hundredths to 49.17. There was also a flood of super times behind her. Lieke Klaver ensured a Dutch double victory in 50.16. Bronze went to Alexis Holmes (USA/50.24).

There has never been such a concentrated load of world class in the indoor arena - and Gogl-Walli was part of this historic race! Bol set the 43rd world record in the 37-year history of the World Indoor Championships. With her first appearance in a World Championship final, Gogl-Walli continued her great run of success in recent years. She had recently reached the semi-finals at the Olympics, World Championships and European Championships. She also finished a strong fourth at the European Indoor Championships in Istanbul last year.

Gogl-Walli, a guarantor of consistency
Now the next highlight followed in Glasgow, where she made her international debut in the general class five years ago at the European Indoor Championships. Back then, she was eliminated in the preliminaries. Times have changed. She qualified for the Olympics in Székesfehérvár in the summer with her current 400 m best time of 50.87 seconds. The European Championships in Rome (June 7 to 12) and the Olympics (July 26 to August 11) are her major goals for the season. It will be interesting to see where the path of Gogl-Walli, a guarantor of consistency, will take her this year ...

Leni Lindner without a chance
In the morning session on Saturday, Leni Lindner was eliminated without a chance in the 60m. In her preliminary heat, she finished fifth in 7.46 seconds and naturally had no chance of advancing to the semifinals. The Lower Austrian was unfortunately beaten: "I know that I can run much faster..." This year she had improved her 60 m best time to 7.32. She was a long way off that in Glasgow.

Leni Lindner

(Bild: GEPA)

Her problem: "I run so strongly in training, but I can't do it in competition. Even in the warm-up, I ran faster today than in my heat." With a poor reaction time and a weak start, she immediately missed out on a good time and a better placing. Overall, she finished 41st.

Strametz in the semifinals?
Karin Strametz will be the last Austrian to compete in the 60 m hurdles on Sunday. She starts in the second preliminary heat at 11.32 a.m. (CEST) in lane 4. This year she has already run under 8.10 seconds seven times and improved her best time to 8.03. She has a good chance of advancing to the semi-finals of the 24 best. "My goal is a time under eight seconds," says the Styrian. Then it won't be far from Beate Schrott's Austrian record (7.96 seconds in Vienna 2013).

Home gold for Scotland
The men's 3000m final, which had been eagerly awaited by fans and experts for weeks, brought the home victory the Scots had been dreaming of. Scotland's Josh Kerr won the 15-lap race in 7:42.98 minutes ahead of Yared Nuguse (USA/7:43.59) and Selemon Barega (ETH/7:43.64). The 4200 fans in the completely sold-out "Emirates Arena" were at the Scotsman's feet.