Perfect race

“A madness!” Pallitsch runs dream record

Raphael Pallitsch

(Bild: zVg)

Dream record by Raphael Pallitsch! The Burgenland native finished third at the meeting in Metz, improving his Austrian indoor record over 1500 m from 3:37.36 to a sensational 3:36.34. The 35-year-old also clearly beat the direct limit of 3:37.00 for the European Indoor Championships in Apeldoorn (March 6-9). Pallitsch: "That was a perfect race. It was amazing!"

Raphael Pallitsch ran a tactically outstanding race at the "Meeting Metz Moselle Athlétor", which is part of the World Athletics Indoor Tour Silver. Everything went according to plan! As always in such races with large fields, there were a few jostles at the start, but he overcame them well. He slowly worked his way up to a perfect third place, an excellent starting position.

"Ink was empty!"
 "Just don't let the gap to the front be torn," he then told himself, "the ink was empty one lap before the end, I was done." But he held on and was only beaten by Anass Essayi (Mar/3:33.55) and Ruben Verheyden (Bel/3:34.49). "I knew I had no chance against those two," he admitted, "but when I saw the winning time, I knew I had run a record!"

Raphael Pallitsch

(Bild: zVg)

And what a sensational new record for Raphael Pallitsch! He literally smashed the record he set in Ostrava last year (3:37.36), and even outdoors he was only three times faster than he is now in Metz, led by the 3:33.59 he set in Ostrava 2024. "I'm so happy that I can run so consistently," said a delighted Pallitsch, who finished sixth in the European Championships in Rome last year. So he's in for another big year this year!

He has already secured his start at the European Indoor Championships in Holland. But he should also be competing at the World Indoor Championships in Nanjing (China) 14 days later. This time from Metz is worth its weight in gold. "And it was also a small step towards the World Championships in Tokyo!" Qualification for the athletics highlight of the year this September should soon be a certainty for him at the start of the outdoor season!

Lotte Seiler with a great best time
Before Pallitsch, Lotte Seiler had improved her personal best time from 9:36.99 to 9:14.89 as third in the B race over 3000m. She thus improved to fifth place in the "eternal" ÖLV indoor best list (see statistics). Kevin Kamenschak, who had planned to run the 3000m, was unlucky. However, he fell ill and had to watch the meeting from his hotel bed...

Development of the ÖLV indoor record over 1500 m:

3:42.8 (3) Dietmar Millonig Vienna 04.02.1978

3:42.5 (1) Dietmar Millonig Vienna 13.01.1979

3:39,56 (1) Wolfgang Konrad Vienna 30.01.1980

3:38,50 (1) Robert Nemeth Vienna 16.02.1985

3:37,36 (4) Raphael Pallitsch Ostrava 30.01.2024

3:36,34 (3) Raphael Pallitsch Metz 08.02.2025

Meeting Metz Moselle Athlétor 2025 (World Athletics Indoor Tour Silver): Men 1500 m: A-final: 1st Essayi (Mar) 3:33.55, 2nd Verheyden (Bel) 3:34.49, 3rd Pallitsch 3:36.34;
Women: 800 m: B-final: 1. Liberman (Fra) 2:01,70, 6. Bredlinger (Ö) 2:03,41;
3000 m: B-final: 1. Gemetto (Ita) 9:03,51, 2. Chinfatt (Kann) 9:10,97, 3. Seiler (Ö) 9:14,89.