Heptathlon showdown

A fierce pentathlon for the title and the tickets

On Saturday at 11.05 a.m., the starting gun will be fired for the 49th edition of the Hypo all-around meeting in the Mösle Stadium in Götzn. This year will feature a very special line-up, as the traditional event in the Vorarlberg athletics mecca will also award the heptathlon national title and important points for the Olympic and European Championship rankings this year.

"I'm delighted that the national championships are being held here in Götzis as part of the Hypo Meeting," says Verena Mayr, who will be competing in the Mösle for the first time since 2018 - back then as Verena Preiner - and knows: "You're pushed even harder in such a strong international field."

An additional motivation that should bring her a big step closer to her goals for the season. "For me, it's about improving my world ranking and thus qualifying for the European Championships in Rome and the Olympic Games in Paris," explains the 29-year-old from Upper Austria, who has held the Austrian heptathlon record since 2019 with 6591 points.

Sarah Lagger, Isabel Posch and Chiara Schuler are also in the hunt for titles.(Bild: GEPA pictures)

Mayr is currently in 23rd place in the European Championship qualifying rankings, directly ahead of Carinthian Sarah Lagger, who will also be competing in Götzis. Isabel Posch from Fußach, who is eagerly awaiting her second Mösle start, is in 27th place. She can also hope to slip into the field of 24, for which twelve athletes who have already broken the direct limit of 6,300 points have already qualified.

Every centimeter counts for Dadic
Ivona Dadic has not yet entered this ranking - in which Chiara Schuler is the fourth-best ÖLV woman in 57th place - after missing the previous season due to injury. "Physically, I am very well prepared. It will be important for me to get every centimeter out of the high jump," hopes the 30-year-old, who recently only cleared 1.56 meters at the Multistars competition in Brescia (Italy), but still wants to make it to the Olympic Games in Paris.

"I think we Austrians can all be close together," Mayr believes. "It will certainly be a tough fight, with each of us fighting for every single point."