Monday, 08 February 2010
With their eyes on Moncton, Austrians set solid early marks
Jennifer Wenth en route to her Austrian junior 1500m record in Vienna (Robert Katzenbeisser)
relnews
Promising Austrian athletes already have their eyes set on the 13th IAAF World Junior Championship in Moncton, Canada, 19-25 Jul 2010.
Lukas Weisshaidinger in the Shot Put and Jennifer Wenth in the 1500m achieved qualifying marks of good standard during the Austrian indoor season.
“This is exciting news for our team,” says Christian Röhrling, coach for the Austrian Athletics Federation. “I’m sure their performances are a boost to other athletes to clear their way to Moncton as well.”
Jennifer Wenth clocked 4:18.23 in the 1500m in Vienna on 2 February, thereby breaking her own national junior indoor record. 12th at the European Junior Championships in Novi Sad, Serbia, in 2009, she wants to build on this in Moncton. Another target of hers is running the 3000m. Her best of 9:30.72 might well be reviewed in the forthcoming months, so a double appearance in Moncton is very likely.
“Given the qualification, I will have a go at both events. The time table allows for it,” says the talented runner who will celebrate her 19th birthday during the Championships in July.
Likewise Weisshaidinger has a double goal in his mind: the Shot Put and the Discus Throw. He set a national junior indoor record in the shot put (6k) on 4 February in Linz, achieving 18.91m. Working as a mechanical engineer he has built his strength growing up on a farm in Taufkirchen in Upper Austria. He stepped onto the international scene with a fourth place at the IAAF World Youth Championships in Bressanone 2009 in the Shot Put and went on to win two gold medals at the European Youth Olympic Festival in Tampere, Finland, one with the shot, the other with the discus. Being described as a “gentle giant” he is 198cm tall and weighs 128kg.
The success of Weisshaidinger, who turns 18 on 20 February, has led to growing popularity. He was awarded the “Terragas Jugendsportpreis” for upcoming Austrian athletes of all sports and, like Wenth, the prize for the best Austrian junior athlete by the Austrian Athletic Federation. However, most important for him is the close co-operation with his coach Sepp Schopf and the support his friends. A large fan club from his home town has already arranged a journey to Canada in July. So whatever the results will be, Weisshaidinger, Wenth and the rest of the Austrian team will be cheered on in Moncton as if they were local heroes.
Andreas Maier for the IAAF
Lukas Weisshaidinger in the Shot Put and Jennifer Wenth in the 1500m achieved qualifying marks of good standard during the Austrian indoor season.
“This is exciting news for our team,” says Christian Röhrling, coach for the Austrian Athletics Federation. “I’m sure their performances are a boost to other athletes to clear their way to Moncton as well.”
Jennifer Wenth clocked 4:18.23 in the 1500m in Vienna on 2 February, thereby breaking her own national junior indoor record. 12th at the European Junior Championships in Novi Sad, Serbia, in 2009, she wants to build on this in Moncton. Another target of hers is running the 3000m. Her best of 9:30.72 might well be reviewed in the forthcoming months, so a double appearance in Moncton is very likely.
“Given the qualification, I will have a go at both events. The time table allows for it,” says the talented runner who will celebrate her 19th birthday during the Championships in July.
Likewise Weisshaidinger has a double goal in his mind: the Shot Put and the Discus Throw. He set a national junior indoor record in the shot put (6k) on 4 February in Linz, achieving 18.91m. Working as a mechanical engineer he has built his strength growing up on a farm in Taufkirchen in Upper Austria. He stepped onto the international scene with a fourth place at the IAAF World Youth Championships in Bressanone 2009 in the Shot Put and went on to win two gold medals at the European Youth Olympic Festival in Tampere, Finland, one with the shot, the other with the discus. Being described as a “gentle giant” he is 198cm tall and weighs 128kg.
The success of Weisshaidinger, who turns 18 on 20 February, has led to growing popularity. He was awarded the “Terragas Jugendsportpreis” for upcoming Austrian athletes of all sports and, like Wenth, the prize for the best Austrian junior athlete by the Austrian Athletic Federation. However, most important for him is the close co-operation with his coach Sepp Schopf and the support his friends. A large fan club from his home town has already arranged a journey to Canada in July. So whatever the results will be, Weisshaidinger, Wenth and the rest of the Austrian team will be cheered on in Moncton as if they were local heroes.
Andreas Maier for the IAAF