Athletics

ÖLV women’s relay team in Bahamas with Olympic chance

Austria's 4-x-100 m women's quartet will be taking part in the World Athletics Relay Championships in the Bahamas this weekend and even have a chance of qualifying for the Olympics! 

In five competitions, 14 of the 16 Paris tickets will be awarded. After that, two more nations will move up the world rankings. The primary goal for the ÖLV squad is of course to secure their second consecutive participation in the European Championships. The Austrians qualified for the 30-strong field in 28th place with their national record of 44.18 seconds.

"It certainly won't be easy!"
The red-white-red squad now consists of Isabel Posch, Magdalena Lindner, Karin Strametz and Viktoria Willhuber as well as substitute runner Katharina Stadler in this order. On Saturday (CEST, Sunday, 1.50 a.m.), the two fastest relay teams will qualify in four preliminary heats, while on Sunday (CEST, Monday, 1.40 a.m.) the remaining six tickets will be contested in three timed heats.

"It certainly won't be easy," said ÖLV coach Philipp Unfried. They want to see how far they can go. "That means finishing well on Saturday and if that works, we can take a bit more of a risk on Sunday." Three years ago, a relay initiative was launched in Austria under Unfried's leadership, and since then the ÖLV women's record has been improved every season.