News11 Dec 2015


Holzdeppe added to Karlsruhe pole vault field

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German pole vaulter Raphael Holzdeppe (© Getty Images)

Germany’s 2013 world champion Raphael Holzdeppe will take on Olympic champion Renaud Lavillenie in the pole vault at the Indoor Meeting Karlsruhe on 6 February, the first IAAF World Indoor Tour meeting of 2016.

Lavillenie was the first athlete to be announced for the Karlsruhe meeting and he will now be joined by regular rival Holzdeppe.

Unlike Lavillenie, the 26-year-old German has never won in Karlsruhe. But he will be going into 2016 full of confidence after defeating Lavillenie on three occasions in 2015, including at the IAAF World Championships in Beijing where he took silver ahead of Lavillenie’s bronze.

And while Holzdeppe failed to clear a height at the 2015 edition of the Karlsruhe meeting, having suffered illness in his return from injury, he is much further along in his preparations compared to 12 months ago.

“The atmosphere in the hall was great last year, but unfortunately I could not transfer that into my performance because I picked up an illness the night before,” said Holzdeppe. “My preparation is currently running at full speed and I am very pleased with my progress.”

The Indoor Meeting Karlsruhe is the first of four competitions that make up the 2016 IAAF World Indoor Tour series. The circuit includes meetings in Stockholm, Glasgow and Boston.

Organisers for the IAAF

2016 IAAF World Indoor Tour calendar
6 February – Karlsruhe Indoor Meeting (Karlsruhe, GER)
14 February – New Balance Indoor Grand Prix (Boston, USA)
17 February – Globen Galan (Stockholm, SWE)
20 February – Glasgow Indoor Grand Prix (Glasgow, GBR)

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