In a final thriller
Sensational Weißhaidinger wins European Championship silver!
The dream has come true! In a real thriller of a final, a sensational Lukas Weißhaidinger won the silver medal in the discus throw at the European Championships in Rome. The Austrian threw the 2 kg disc 67.70 m in his fifth attempt and was only beaten by former world champion Kristjan Ceh (SLO/68.08 m). Weißhaidinger was even ahead of world record holder Mykolas Alekna (LTU/67.48 m) and Olympic champion Daniel Stahl (SWE/66.84 m). They were only 38 centimeters short of gold ...
After that, the jubilation in the small red-white-red colony knew no bounds! And Weißhaidinger, with the red-white-red flag around his shoulders, shouted his joy into the Roman night sky. "It's all so incredible! Silver! Now another medal color," he cheered. After three bronze medals at the European Championships, World Championships and Olympics, he achieved second place at a major championship for the first time in his great career.
Only twelfth European Championship medal
He also won only the twelfth European Championship medal for Austrian athletics in Rome. He had only won gold twice before. Liese Prokop in the pentathlon and Ilona Gusenbauer in the high jump in 1971. The Upper Austrian himself had already won European Championship bronze in Berlin in 2018 (see statistics below).
But first of all, I want to thank my coach Gregor Högler. It's incredible how he always manages to prepare me to the point," said Luki. What's more, the successful duo even took the risk of changing their technique again in the Olympic year. A gamble with fire. But it worked out perfectly. "It's always fun to try something new! I always want to get a little better every day!"
"Attacking gold"
The 32-year-old was in fourth place in the final thriller for a long time. "But I knew that wasn't the end of the line. I just had to stay calm and then push myself." The final piece of luck, the super throw, came in the fifth attempt. "I hit it dead on!" He even overtook the world record holder Alekna. "I've always said that others can also have a weaker day. Then I just need a particularly good day! In the end, I even went for gold!"
But it remained with the historic silver. "I always knew that I had something in me, I was already within striking distance of the really big names in the Diamond League. And at my age and with my experience, I've become a bit calmer." Of course, this is already strengthening his back for the Olympics.
Reaching for his favorite discus for the final
For the final, the Upper Austrian naturally chose his favorite discus, the black "Hyper Super Spin". He hurled this disc to a very impressive 65.60 m at the start of the final round of the top twelve. That was already the greatest distance ever achieved by an Austrian in the discus throw at a European Championships (previously he himself had thrown 65.48 m/2022).
He then followed this up with 63.07 m and even 66.78 m. As a result, he finished fourth and safely reached the final eight. Before the last three rounds, only Kristjan Ceh (68.08 m), Mykolas Alekna (66.98 m) and Daniel Stahl (66.84 m) were ahead of him. Luki was within touching distance of a medal ...
Cheered on by his 20-strong fan club, including brother Franz and girlfriend Hanna, the 32-year-old had to focus more on his motto of "full attack, full risk". With success! In his fifth attempt, he improved to 67.70 m and moved up to silver. And he successfully defended this super position right to the end!
Qualifying was easy
In the morning, Weißhaidinger had passed the qualification with 63.99 m as the fourth best overall. His progress was never in danger and his third participation in the final at his third European Championships was quickly secured. After an ice bath, he had an extensive lunch, then went to bed until 4 p.m. before taking the shuttle back to the Olympic Stadium at 5 p.m.. The warm-up began at 6.45 p.m., before he threw the 2 kg target 67 m during the throw-in. That was a good omen for the final ...
Austria's medals at the LA European Championships:
Gold (2)
Liese Prokop - Pentathlon - 1969
Ilona Gusenbauer - high jump - 1971
Silver (2)
Herma Bauma - javelin throw - 1950
Lukas Weißhaidinger - discus - 2024
Bronze (8 )
Karl Kotratschek - triple jump - 1938
Maria Sykora - 400 m - 1969
Hermann Fehringer - pole vault - 1990
Steffi Graf - 800 m - 1998
Beate Schrott - 100 m hurdles - 2012
Ivona Dadic - heptathlon - 2016
Lukas Weißhaidinger - discus throw - 2018
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