Nothing went together

Raven-black weekend for Ländle multi-discipline athlete

The season opener in Italy did not go according to plan for Ländle multi-discipline athlete Chiara Schuler. At the Multistars meeting in Brescia, the 22-year-old from Hörbranz also damaged her right knee, which was already suffering. 

"Nothing really came together for Chiara over these two days here in Brescia," said her coach Sven Benning in disillusionment. "I'm not a fan of excuses at all. But a lot really came together." It all started when Schuler was hit by an opponent in the hurdles sprint and got stuck on the last hurdle. However, it was probably not only her self-confidence that took a knock, but also her right knee - which had already been damaged in the previous season. "Not much came together after that," said Benning, analyzing the performance of his protégé, who was already 352 points behind her personal best after four events.

Preventive decision to forgo the 800 meters
On the final day, the 22-year-old started with 5.74 meters in the long jump. "But she wasn't even on the board," reveals the coach. "However, the knee pain got worse." After she also fell more than four meters short of her personal best in her special discipline, the javelin throw, at 46.67 meters, "Kiki" took the precaution of not competing in the final 800-meter race. "She's not one to give up just like that. That's saying something," says Benning. Now she needs to get fit as quickly as possible in order to score points at the Hypo-Meeting in three weeks' time.