© Jana Peters
Luxembourg's Bob Bertemes and Patrizia van der Weken shone at the World Athletics Indoor Meeting at the Coque sports centre, with Bertemes qualifying for the Paris Olympics with a shot put victory and van der Weken breaking national and tournament records in the 60-metre dash.
Luxembourgish shot put athlete Bob Bertemes placed first at the World Athletics Indoor Meeting at the Coque sports centre over the weekend. With a top score of 21 metres and 71 centimetres, he thereby qualified for the Paris Olympics, taking place in July this year.
Taking the second spot was Mesud Pezer from Bosnia and Herzegovina while Portugal's Tsanko Arnaudov placed third.
In the 60-metre dash, Patrizia van der Weken, who already qualified for the upcoming Olympics, beat a national and a tournament record with 7.11 seconds in the second run. The sprinter remained 6 hundredths below her own record, which she set in early January at the very same venue.
In the final, van der Weken won in a time of 7.09 seconds, improving the national and meeting record by two hundredths. Impressively, no one has run the 60-metre dash faster in 2024 than Luxembourg's incumbent Sportswoman of the Year.
© Jana Peters
In the 60-metre hurdles final, Victoria Rausch set a new national record. The Luxembourgish athlete crossed the finish line in 8.16 seconds, securing 5th place. The race was won by US American Amber Hughes in a time of 7.96 seconds.
François Grailet placed 8th in the 60-metre final with a time of 8.01 seconds. Belgian Elie Bacari won, finishing with a time of 7.62 seconds.
Placing fourth, Charline Mathias ran the 800-metre race in 2 minutes and 3.8 seconds, beating a national record. Kenya's Naomi Korir won the race, clocking in at 2 minutes and 2.79 seconds.
In the 1,500-metre dash, Vivien Henz achieved a time of 3 minutes and 43.2 seconds, securing the fifth place in the final. The first place was claimed by Isaac Nader from Portugal, who finished after 3 minutes and 37.8 seconds.
Tournament records were also smashed in the men's 200-metre dash and in women's long jump. Albert Komanski ran 200 metres in 20.77 seconds. Bulgarian Plamena Mitkova jumped a distance of 6 metres and 40 centimetres.
