Sprinters in Eisenstadt

Fuchs in the wake of Olympic champion Blake under 10.00?

One of the world's best sprinters of the past decade will do the honors at the athletics meeting in Eisenstadt on 22 May! Yohan Blake, 2012 and 2016 Olympic relay champion and 2011 world champion in the relay and over 100 m (after Usain Bolt's false start), announced his participation in a video message from Jamaica to the organizer of the "Raiffeisen Austrian Open". In Eisenstadt, the 34-year-old will meet Austria's sprint record holder Markus Fuchs. Perhaps the fastest Austrian will manage a sprint under 10.00 seconds in the wake of the Jamaica star ... 

With a best time of 9.69 seconds, set in Lausanne in 2012, Blake is the second-fastest 100m runner in history behind Usain Bolt (9.58). "My name is Yohan Blake, I'm the second fastest man in the world," the sprint legend introduced himself in the short video and immediately started to promote the meeting in Eisenstadt, which is increasingly becoming the number one event in domestic athletics. Blake: "I'm running against Markus Fuchs. Don't miss it! It's sure to be a good race!"

"A hot fight!"
 Fuchs, who has held the Austrian 100 m record since last year with 10.08, likes the fast track in the Burgenland capital. Two years ago, he equaled Andreas Berger's age-old record of 10.15 (10.15 from 1988). Now Fuchs is already one step ahead and has set a time under 10.00 seconds as his next goal. Why shouldn't he succeed in Eisenstadt? And it is quite conceivable that he could even beat the great Blake at home ...

"Of course I have great respect for Blake. But it will certainly be a battle, I will fight him hard. In any case, it's extremely cool that I can run against Blake in Eisenstadt," Fuchs is already looking forward to the sprint in Eisenstadt. In the indoor season, Fuchs, who incidentally presented his new sponsor Haemo Pharma in Eisenstadt, finished tenth at the World Championships in Glasgow, missing the final by just the blink of an eye ...

Thanks to the sponsors
At a joint press conference with Mayor Thomas Steiner, Raiffeisen CEO Rudolf Suttner and OSR boss Franz Rumpolt, Rolf Meixner, President of the Burgenland Athletics Association, thanked the city and the sponsors for their great support. Meixner, who together with Ronja Leitner is leading the meeting in Eisenstadt into ever higher spheres, expressly thanked Rumpolt, without whom the engagement of Blake would not have been possible.

Rumpolt himself said: "The enthusiasm in Eisenstadt is great, as the best runner in the world has decided to compete against the local hero in a domestic competition. This promises emotions and top sporting performances. I'm looking forward to it."