Faster than Lagat

Crazy! Pallitsch over mile masters world record holder

Raphael Pallitsch

(Bild: Jaroslav Svoboda/jsphoto.cz)

An important postscript to the strong performance of Austria's athletics ace Raphael Pallitsch in Ostrava! With his 3:55.94 in the mile race, he took the Masters indoor world record over this classic distance in the +35 category. And that's saying something: the Burgenlander, who turned 35 in December, displaced none other than Bernard Lagat (USA) from the top spot as world record holder ...

The World Masters Athletics (WMA), which is solely responsible for the world records in the age groups, has so far listed Lagat in the +35 category on its official website with his 3:56.34 from New York on January 29, 2010. The Kenyan-born runner, who ran for the USA from 2005, was 35 years old at this race, as Pallitsch is now. The background: Lagat was one of the big stars of international athletics, winning silver and bronze at the Olympics, twice world champion and three times world indoor champion. Pallitsch has now passed this star by ...

"Record a treat"
 Alfons Juck, Pallitsch's manager and organizer of the meeting in Ostrava, leaves no doubt about the Austrian's Masters world record. "We will submit the world record to World Masters Athletics with all the formalities, including the finish photo." So there will be a green light for the Burgenlander. Hammer thrower Gottfried Gassenbauer, one of the best Austrian Masters athletes of all time, also confirmed the Pallitsch world record from the USA: "There's something to report and celebrate. Congratulations to Raphael!"

"I'm happy to accept the record as a treat, it will certainly be nice to look back on my career. But at the moment, all that matters to me is the present," said Pallitsch about his status as Masters world record holder. He will continue with a 1500 m race in Metz on Saturday. Whether he will still get a starting place in the mile super race in Liévin on February 13 is almost unlikely, he himself doubts a little.

Not in top shape in Ostrava
The 3:55.94 with which he finished fifth, just missing Michael Buchleitner's old Austrian record (3:54.28/1994), cannot be praised enough. After all, Raphael Pallitsch was not in top form in Ostrava. The 2024 European Championship sixth-placer had suffered from acute inflammation in both adductors in the days before, but was too posh to make a big deal of it beforehand. If the race had gone better, Pallitsch could have set his third ÖLV record in Ostrava. However, his start to the season showed that he is absolutely competitive internationally again this year ...