The next sensation?

Pallitsch: “A second European Championship final would be a big dream!”

Raphael Pallitsch

(Bild: Hervé Derule)

Raphael Pallitsch, Austria's sensation on the track last year, will open the European Indoor Championships in Apeldoorn tomorrow for Red-White-Red. The Burgenlander will be the first of the seven ÖLV athletes to start and has a tough nut to crack in his 1500 m preliminary heat. Only one trio from each of the three heats will reach the nine-man final. He knows: "I have to surpass myself and improve to make it!" Postscript: "But my current top form gives me confidence!"

The "Krone" reports from Apeldoorn!

The 35-year-old has conjured up a perfect indoor season on the track so far this year. In Metz, he increased his 1500 m record to 3:36.34, ran a great mile race in Ostrava in the new Masters world record time of 3:55.94 and proved his great class at the national championships in Linz with a remarkable 3000 m solo and a 1500 m sprint victory. "My recent performance tests showed that everything should fit."

With superstar Ingebrigtsen
But the international competition on this classic track at the European Championships is incredibly tight. The European Championships field is led by superstar Jakob Ingebrigsten (NOR), who is aiming to do the double over 1500 m and 3000 m at a European Indoor Championships for the third time in a row.

Raphael Pallitsch

(Bild: zVg)

Pallitsch, not a man of big words or announcements, is ranked 14th of the 27 participants in the entry list. But numbers are smoke and mirrors when it comes to the preliminary heats. "We'll see what the draw for the preliminary race is like, but I have a lot of plans and want to get actively involved in the race. But there are also eight others on the starting line, in the race you are bound by your own intuition, as a runner you have to be fully present on day X."

"Don't want to speculate"
 Of course he hopes to make it to the final. "But I don't want to speculate." But he can hope. "It would be a dream come true to reach the final at a European Championship for the second time in a row." Just like at the 2024 European Outdoor Championships in Rome, where he stormed to sixth place in the final with an incredible final sprint. An unforgettable sensation. A highlight for Austrian athletics.

Karin Strametz

(Bild: Orlen Cup/Lukasz Szelag)

By taking part in the final, he would once again be building on the successes of the great trio of runners Dietmar Millonig, Wolfgang Konrad and Robert Nemeth. Nemeth finished sixth in Gothenburg 40 years ago, the best ÖLV result to date in the 1500m at a European Indoor Championships. But, as I said, the hurdle from the heats to the final is damn high for Pallitsch...

14 years ago in Paris
A side note: his only European Indoor Championships to date took place in Paris-Bercy in 2011. There - exactly 14 years ago today - he finished fifth in the 800 m preliminaries in 1:52.19. A long time has passed between the European Championships in Paris and Apeldoorn, a time in which he had ended his career in between, but as a late-comer in recent years ran to unimagined records and realized his dream of participating in the Olympics. After the Games in Paris, he thought about retiring, but then continued his career. Fortunately for Austrian athletics ...

Enzo Diessl

(Bild: ÖLV/Wolf Amri)

After Pallitsch, the hurdles aces
 After Pallitsch, Austria's hurdles aces will also be competing late on Thursday. Karin Strametz and Enzo Diessl, who have both been set back by injuries and/or illnesses in their preparations this year, have a good chance of advancing from their heats to the semifinals. Strametz improved her season's best time of 8.09 seconds in the 60 m hurdles at the national championships, while Diessl was only competing in his season opener at the title fights in Linz. However, the 20-year-old ran 7.69 seconds in the preliminary heat and 7.67 seconds in the final.

Personal best?
His coach Beate Hochleitner says: "It's not easy to say where Enzo stands in the competition right now. He lacks the competition practice in the hall to attack optimally. But I am convinced that he will run a personal best in Apeldoorn." This has stood at 7.64 seconds since last year. "It should be enough for the semifinals. He might be able to improve a bit there. He just mustn't let the fact that it's only his second competition this year unsettle him."

Austria's team for the European Indoor Championships:

• Men: 1500 m: Raphael Pallitsch; 60 m hurdles: Enzo Diessl, triple jump: Endiorass Kingley
• Women: 60 m: Leni Lindner; 800 m: Caroline Bredlinger; 60 m hurdles: Karin Strametz; pentathlon: Verena Mayr

Schedule of the Austrians at the European Indoor Championships:

• March 6:
  19.55: 1500 m (M): heats (Pallitsch)
  20.50 hrs: 60 m hurdles (F): heats (Strametz)
  21.17 hrs: 60 m hurdles (M): heats (Diessl)
• March 7:
  10.15 am: 800 m (F): heats (Bredlinger)
  1.40 p.m.: Triple jump (M): Qualification (Kingley)
  13.45: 60 m hurdles (F): Semifinals (Strametz?)
  14.05: 60 m hurdles (M): semifinals (Diessl?)
  21.15: 1500 m (M): Final (Pallitsch?)
  21.43: 60 m hurdles (F): final (Strametz?)
  21.53 hrs: 60 m hurdles (M): final (Diessl?)
• March 8:
  18.40: triple jump (M): final (Kingley?)
  19.53: 800 m (F): Semifinal (Bredlinger?)
• March 9:
  9.00 am: Pentathlon (F): 60 m hurdles (Mayr)
  9.50 am: Pentathlon (F): High jump (Mayr)
  12.00: 60 m (F): Preliminary heats (Lindner)
  12.21 p.m.: Pentathlon (F): shot put (Mayr)
  15.10: Pentathlon (F): long jump (Mayr)
  16.05: 60 m (F): Semifinals (Lindner?)
  16.33: 800 m (F): Final (Bredlinger?)
  18.03: Pentathlon (F): 800 m (Mayr)
  18.37 hrs: 60 m (F): Final (Lindner?)