World Indoor Championships in China

Raphael Pallitsch: “Aiming for the final”

Raphael Pallitsch (center)

(Bild: ÖLV / Soňa Maléterová )

Raphael Pallitsch and Caroline Bredlinger's adventure in China begins on Tuesday. Both are traveling to the "Land of the Middle" for the first time, and the two Burgenlanders are excited to see what awaits them in terms of sport and also on the sidelines of the World Indoor Championships in Nanjing. Bredlinger considers herself "lucky to have made the 800 m qualification at all". The semi-final would be a sensation for her. Pallitsch, who finished fourth in the preliminaries at the European Championships in Apeldoorn, just missing the 1500 m final by one place, has set himself "the final as my goal" and says: "I'm certainly not a tourist at the World Championships!" But after the World Championships! Because then he and his girlfriend are going on a 14-day tour of China.

The "Krone" reports from Nanjing!

In the history of the World Indoor Championships, Austria has so far only been represented in the men's 1500m by Andreas Vojta in Sopot in 2014, where he was eliminated in the heats. Raphael Pallitsch, who has crowned his already great indoor season so far this year with his great record run in Metz in 3:36.34, has a small chance of making it to the final in Nanjing.

In the entry list, ranked according to season's best times, he is in 13th place among the 30 participants. "My expectations are similar to those at the European Championships, but somewhat more subdued due to the international density at the World Championships." The World Championship field is led by Olympic champion and world record holder Jakob Ingebrigtsen (3:29.63).

Already at the 2012 World Championships
Incidentally, Raphael Pallitsch already has experience at a World Indoor Championships. In 2012 in Istanbul, he reached the semi-finals in the 800 m - before taking a longer break from high-performance sport soon afterwards. Now, however, the 35-year-old is in top form as a late-comer and is concentrating fully on the World Championships in the "Nanjing Cube", which was built especially for these title fights.

(Bild: ÖLV / Soňa Maléterová )

But he has planned a 14-day vacation in China with his girlfriend at home. "We had a huge opportunity there that we wanted to take advantage of. And I can also treat myself to a short break." They first take one of the famous Chinese express trains from Nanjing to Beijing, and from there to the Great Wall of China. As nature lovers, they will then spend time in two national parks in the south of China before Shanghai is the last tourist stop. Then the time out is already over and they head straight from China to South Africa for a training camp. This is where the preparation for the outdoor season begins, with the World Championships in Tokyo as the highlight.

Kamenschak just short of the record
Of course Kevin Kamenschak, who forms a training team with Pallitsch, will also be in South Africa. He proved to be on top form on Sunday when he beat the Austrian record in the 5 km road race in Lille by just two seconds with a time of 13:50 minutes. Only Andreas Vojta (13:48 in Monte Carlo 2020) and he have ever been faster

Great solo was rewarded
Steffi Graf is the only ÖLV athlete to date in the 800 m at the World Indoor Championships and also the most successful Austrian ever at these title fights. The "Countess" finished sixth in Maebashi 1999 and won silver in Lisbon 2001 and Birmingham 2003.

(Bild: ÖLV / Soňa Maléterová )

With her solo time of 2:02.11 at this year's national championships in Linz, Caroline Bredlinger surprisingly made it into the World Championships field of only 26 participants after many withdrawals. "There was also some luck involved," admits the 23-year-old, who doesn't even want to deal with her competitors in the run-up to the title fights. "That only causes unnecessary stress."

(Bild: ÖLV / Soňa Maléterová )

"Never say never!"
 At the European Indoor Championships, where she was eliminated after a good performance in the heats, she saw "that everything is open and everything is possible depending on how the race goes". Reaching the semi-finals is "perhaps utopian". Postscript: "But never say never. Let's see what happens." In any case, the World Championships will give her "great experience" and help her grow as an athlete. "It's also new that I'm actually quite alone at a major event."

She is looking forward to the spectator interest at the World Championships. "I don't want to compare it to the European Championships in Apeldoorn, where the hall was full every day. I have no idea what it will be like in China. I'm excited, I'll be surprised in all directions." Maybe even himself with a strong 800 m race!