Missed the final

Pallitsch in bad luck: “I’m close to tears!”

Raphael Pallitsch

(Bild: Thomas Windestam)

That was bad luck! Raphael Pallitsch finished fourth in his 1500 m preliminary heat at the European Indoor Championships in Apeldoorn in 3:40.96 minutes and missed the final on Friday by one place. The top 3 in each of the three heats advanced to the final, and the Burgenland native finished 13th in the official overall rankings. He admitted: "I'm close to tears now!"

"My tactics worked well for a long time, I also had confidence in the race," said Raphael Pallitsch. Three laps before the end, the 35-year-old had worked his way up from the back of the field of nine and was even second at one point. "But that simply took a lot of energy, a huge amount of energy. At some point, the juice ran out," said a disappointed Raphael Pallitsch, who would have loved to reach the European Championship final again after his final at the European Outdoor Championships in Rome, where he sensationally finished sixth in 2024. He admitted: "I'm on the verge of tears now!"

A small consolation for Raphael Pallitsch was that his 3:40.96 was the fastest time ever achieved by an Austrian in the 1500m at a European Indoor Championships. Until the title fights in Apeldoorn, the fastest was Robert Nemeth in his sixth place at the European Championships 40 years ago, when he ran 3:43.28...

Olaf Brockmann

(Bild: Olaf Brockmann)

Ingebrigtsen playful
Shortly before Pallitsch, Norway's superstar Jakob Ingebrigtsen had once again demonstrated his superiority in the first preliminary heat. In the field of nine runners, he held back in last place for a long time before he worked his way up from the back of the pack with three laps to go in the final 600 m and won in a superior 3:37.49 minutes.

The Olympic champion and world record holder has thus taken his first step towards his (renewed) big mission in Apeldoorn. He wants to win the 1500 m and 3000 m in the "Omnisport" for the third time in a row at a European Indoor Championships. The man knows hardly any limits, as we saw this year at his historic indoor race in Liévin, when he set world records in the 1500 m and the mile in one race.

(Bild: Adam Warzawa)

Strametz in the semifinals
If Pallitsch was so disappointed, Karin Strametz was able to cheer a little later. She ran a personal best in the 60 m hurdles in 7.99 seconds and advanced to the semi-finals in third place in her preliminary heat. Overall, she ran the eighth best time of all the preliminary heats!"

While she was set back by injuries and illness at the beginning of the season, she has been getting into better and better shape recently. Which she proved in Apeldoorn! She improved her personal best time of 8.00 seconds by one hundredth. "I touched another hurdle today, maybe I can do a bit better in the semifinals!" The semi-final will take place on Friday in the early afternoon.

Shortly afterwards, the next bad luck for Austria's team. Hurdles talent Enzo Diessl stumbled at the second hurdle and then fell at the third hurdle. The dream was over! "That's the reality, bad of course, but I'll learn from it!"

European Indoor Athletics Championships in Apeldoorn, Day 1: Men: 
1500 m: heats (top 3 in each final): 1st heat: 1st Ingebrigtsen (Nor) 3:37.49, 2nd Gilavert (Fra) 3:38.11, 3rd Verheyden (Bel) 3:38.21; 2nd heat: 1st Nader (Por) 3.42.32, 2nd Anselmini (Fra) 3:42.47, 3rd Farken (D) 3:42.47. Farken (D) 3:42,53; 3rd heat: 1. Gourley (Gb) 3:40,24, 2. Habz (Fra) 3:40,43, 3. Pihlström (Sd) 3:40,53, 4. Pallitsch (Ö) 3:40,96; official overall ranking after the heats: 1. Ingebrigtsen 3:37,49, 13. Pallitsch 3:40,96.