European Athletics Championships:

Rattinger and Lindner eliminated in the heats

Tobias Rattinger in the 3000 m steeplechase and Leni Lindner in the 100 m were eliminated in their preliminary heats in the morning session at the European Championships in Rome. The duo's next goals: Rattinger is hoping for an Olympic start, Lindner is still competing in the 4 x 100 m relay in Rome.

Rattinger courageously took the lead for two and a half laps in the middle of the race. But then he dropped back place by place. In his preliminary heat, he finished 13th in 8:44.60 and had no chance of reaching the final. "The only positive thing about the race was that I ran bravely and took the lead. Apart from that, there was nothing positive. My legs felt bad, it just wasn't my day. But at least I tried," said the Upper Austrian. "I was happy to be there at all."

This was not to be expected before the start of the season. Thanks to great races in the spring, however, he was able to qualify for the European Championships. "But it's a shame that I had my worst race this year here of all places." However, it was not due to nervousness at his first major event. "I wasn't nervous before the start." He naturally wants to make the most of his minimal chance of successfully qualifying for the Olympics. "I'm still hoping for good starting opportunities abroad." Liège is fixed, but Turku is still questionable.

It continues on Tuesday
Leni Lindner got stuck in the preliminary round of the 100 m in 11.52, finishing 17th overall. 14 women had qualified for the semifinals. The Lower Austrian was seven hundredths short of a place in the top 24. "I would have thought I could achieve this time of 11.45. My race wasn't bad either. My race wasn't bad either. The start was very good. But I lost a lot in the last 15 meters," said the currently fastest Austrian.

Her next appearance follows on Tuesday in Rome. She will run the preliminary heat with the sprint relay team, which has secured one of the 16 coveted starting places at this European Championships. Reaching the final seems unrealistic to her. "But tenth to 12th place is possible!" The primary goal is to come close to the ÖLV record of 44.18 (Chorzów 2023) - or to improve on it ...