Discus thrower Lukas Weißhaidinger celebrated a dominant home victory at the Liese Prokop Memorial in St. Pölten with a clear new season’s best of 67.38 meters. The Olympic bronze medalist won on Friday in wet conditions and no wind ahead of Masateru Yugami (JPN/59.61) and Oskar Strachnik (POL/59.13). On Sunday the Upper Austrian will face much stronger competitors in the Diamond League in Marrakesh.
“This increase in performance is really good. It’s only my second competition with the new throwing technique. This distance – in conditions that are not so good – is really something to be proud of,” said Weißhaidinger, who only missed his own meeting record by 38 centimeters.
There were also home victories in the hurdle sprints thanks to Karin Strametz (100 m/12.97 seconds) and Enzo Diessl (110 m/13.55). In the preliminary run, Diessl ran exactly the required European Championship limit in 13.46. Markus Fuchs came second behind Coby Hilton (USA/10.16) in the 100 m in a new personal best time of the year of 10.23 seconds.
