Günther Weidlinger (born April 5, 1978 in
Braunau am Inn
Braunau am Inn (; German for "Braunau on the Inn") is a town in Upper Austria on the border with Germany. It is known for being the birthplace of Adolf Hitler.
Geography
The town is on the lower river Inn below its confluence with the Salzach, w ...
) is an
Austria
Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
n long-distance runner who is a former
3000 metres steeplechase
The 3000 metres steeplechase or 3000-meter steeplechase (usually abbreviated as ) is the most common distance for the steeplechase in track and field
Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, a ...
specialist but now competes in the
marathon
The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of , usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There are also wheelchair div ...
.
He first made his mark in
athletics
Athletics may refer to:
Sports
* Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking
** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport
* Athletics (physical culture), competiti ...
as a junior athlete in European competitions: winning the steeplechase at the 1997
European Athletics Junior Championships
The European Athletics U20 Championships (formerly named the European Athletics Junior Championships up to 2015) are the European championships for athletes who are under-20 athletes, which is the age range recognised by World Athletics as jun ...
and a
silver medal
A silver medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of, or plated with, silver awarded to the second-place finisher, or runner-up, of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc ...
at the
1997 European Cross Country Championships
The 4th European Cross Country Championships were held at Oeiras in Portugal on 14 December 1997. Danish orienteer Carsten Jørgensen took the title in the men's competition and Joalsiae Llado won the women's race.
Results
Men individual 10km
...
. He set a national record in the event in the final of the
1999 World Championships in Athletics
The 7th World Championships in Athletics, a World Athletic Championships event held under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations, were held at the Estadio Olímpico, Seville, Spain, between the August 20 and Augu ...
and also reached the final at the
2000 Summer Olympics
The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from 1 ...
. He reached a number of major championship finals over the following five years and represented Austria at the
2004 Athens Olympics
The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...
, as well as the
2003
File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...
and
2005 World Championships.
He began to focus on the
10,000 metres
The 10,000 metres or the 10,000-metre run is a common long-distance track running event. The event is part of the athletics programme at the Olympic Games and the World Athletics Championships, and is common at championship level events. The race ...
and
road running
Road running is the sport of running on a measured course over an established road. This differs from track and field on a regular track and cross country running over natural terrain.
These events are usually classified as long-distance ac ...
in 2007. He won the silver at the
2007 European Cup 10000m and set a
half marathon
A half marathon is a road running event of —half the distance of a marathon. It is common for a half marathon event to be held concurrently with a marathon or a 5K race, using almost the same course with a late start, an early finish or shortcu ...
national record at the
IAAF World Road Running Championships
The World Athletics Half Marathon Championships is a biennial international half marathon competition organised by World Athletics. The competition was launched as the IAAF World Half Marathon Championships in 1992 and held annually until 2010. It ...
. Weidlinger won the 2008
Great Manchester Run in another national record time and ran in the 10,000 m at the
2008 Beijing Olympics
The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Nat ...
. He made his marathon debut in 2009 and broke the 23-year-old
Austrian record in the marathon on his second attempt, running 2:10:47 at the
Frankfurt Marathon
The Frankfurt Marathon (official name as of 2016: Mainova Frankfurt Marathon, until 2015: BMW Frankfurt Marathon, until 2010: Commerzbank Frankfurt Marathon) is a marathon which has taken place every year in Frankfurt am Main since its inception i ...
. He won the 2009
Great Australian Run
The Great Australian Run is an annual 15 kilometres road running race which normally takes place in November in Melbourne, Australia. First held in 2008, it is an international version of the British-based Great Run series.
The race featu ...
to set the 15 km national record.
He is a multiple national record holder with best marks including:
1500 metres
The 1500 metres or 1,500-metre run (typically pronounced 'fifteen-hundred metres') is the foremost middle distance track event in athletics. The distance has been contested at the Summer Olympics since 1896 and the World Championships in Athletic ...
, 3000 m steeplechase,
5000 metres
The 5000 metres or 5000-metre run is a common long-distance running event in track and field, approximately equivalent to or . It is one of the track events in the Olympic Games and the World Championships in Athletics, run over laps of a stan ...
, 10,000 m on the track, and 10 km, 15 km, half marathon and marathon in road events. He won his fiftieth national title over all distances and surfaces in March 2011, claiming the Austrian half marathon title.
Career
Early career
Weidlinger started his career as a specialist in the
3000 metres steeplechase
The 3000 metres steeplechase or 3000-meter steeplechase (usually abbreviated as ) is the most common distance for the steeplechase in track and field
Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, a ...
and he just missed out on a medal at the
1996 World Junior Championships in Athletics
The 1996 World Junior Championships in Athletics were held in Sydney, Australia on August 20–25.
Results Men
Women
Medal table
Participation
According to an unofficial count through an unofficial result list, 1049 athletes from 142 cou ...
, finishing fourth in the final. He won his first championship medal the following year, by winning the steeplechase race at the
1997 European Athletics Junior Championships
The 1997 European Athletics Junior Championships were held in Ljubljana, Slovenia
Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to t ...
. He began representing Austria in
cross country running
Cross country running is a sport in which teams and individuals run a race on open-air courses over natural terrain such as dirt or grass. The course, typically long, may include surfaces of grass and earth, pass through woodlands and open coun ...
competitions and after winning a
silver medal
A silver medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of, or plated with, silver awarded to the second-place finisher, or runner-up, of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc ...
in the junior race at the
1997 European Cross Country Championships
The 4th European Cross Country Championships were held at Oeiras in Portugal on 14 December 1997. Danish orienteer Carsten Jørgensen took the title in the men's competition and Joalsiae Llado won the women's race.
Results
Men individual 10km
...
, he stepped up to the senior ranks for the
1998 edition and was fourth, just a second behind
Driss El Himer
Driss El Himer ( ar, ادريس الهمِر) (born 4 April 1974 in Kezazna, Morocco) is a French long-distance runner.
He competed in the marathon at the 2004 Olympics, finishing 68th.
He finished 6th in the long race at the 2001 IAAF World Cr ...
. After winning the
gold medal
A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture.
Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have bee ...
at the
1999 European Athletics U23 Championships
The 2nd European Athletics U23 Championships were held in Gothenburg, Sweden, at Ullevi from 29 July to 1 August 1999.
Complete results and medal winners were published.
Results Men
Women
Medal table
Participation
According to an ...
, he attended his first global senior championships – the
1999 World Championships in Athletics
The 7th World Championships in Athletics, a World Athletic Championships event held under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations, were held at the Estadio Olímpico, Seville, Spain, between the August 20 and Augu ...
. He reached the steeplechase final and finished in ninth position with a national record time of 8:10.83. He improved upon this the following year by taking eighth place in the same event at the
2000 Summer Olympics
The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from 1 ...
.
Weidlinger took tenth place at the
2002 European Cross Country Championships. Competing at his first
European Athletics Championships
The European Athletics Championships is a biennial (from 2010) athletics event organised by the European Athletics Association and is recognised as the elite continental outdoor athletics championships for Europe.
Editions
First held, for men ...
, he finished twelfth in the final of the
2002 edition. He opened the following season with an appearance in the
3000 metres
The 3000 metres or 3000-metre run is a track running event, also commonly known as the "3K" or "3K run", where 7.5 laps are run around an outdoor 400 m track, or 15 laps around a 200 m indoor track.
It is debated whether the 3000m shoul ...
at the
World Indoor Championships, where he reached the final and finished in tenth place. He participated in another global event in the outdoor season, but he did not finish in his steeplechase heat at the
2003 World Championships in Athletics
The 9th World Championships in Athletics, under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations, were held from 23 August to 31 August 2003 in the Stade de France in Saint-Denis, Seine-Saint-Denis, France.
Men's results
...
. He finished third at the
World Military Games
The Military World Games is a multi-sport event for military sportspeople, organized by the International Military Sports Council (CISM). They have been held since 1995, although championships for separate sports had been held for some years. A w ...
in
Sicily
(man) it, Siciliana (woman)
, population_note =
, population_blank1_title =
, population_blank1 =
, demographics_type1 = Ethnicity
, demographics1_footnotes =
, demographi ...
in December 2003 at the
5000 metres
The 5000 metres or 5000-metre run is a common long-distance running event in track and field, approximately equivalent to or . It is one of the track events in the Olympic Games and the World Championships in Athletics, run over laps of a stan ...
. He returned to the European Cross Country Championships at the end of his
2003
File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...
campaign, but only managed eleventh position on that occasion.
For the 2004, he switched to compete in the plain 3000 m and
5000 metres
The 5000 metres or 5000-metre run is a common long-distance running event in track and field, approximately equivalent to or . It is one of the track events in the Olympic Games and the World Championships in Athletics, run over laps of a stan ...
events but experienced little success: he did not make the final at the
2004 IAAF World Indoor Championships
The 10th IAAF World Indoor Championships in Athletics under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) were held in the Budapest Arena, Hungary between March 5 and March 7, 2004. A total off 139 countries were re ...
and in the
men's 5000 m at the
2004 Athens Olympics
The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...
he only managed eleventh in the heats. He was invited to compete in the 3000 m at the
2004 IAAF World Athletics Final The 2nd IAAF World Athletics Final was held at the Stade Louis II, in Monte Carlo, Monaco on September 18, and September 19, 2004.
The hammer throw event for men and women had to take place in Szombathely, Hungary a week previous as the Monaco sta ...
, but finished dead last – some seven seconds behind the slowest other runner. The
2004 European Cross Country Championships demonstrated that his abilities could be better suited to longer distances as he finished fourth in the men's 9.64 km race.
His 2005 was more successful: he began with a fourth-place finish in the 3000 m at the
2005 European Athletics Indoor Championships
The 2005 European Athletics Indoor Championships were held at the Palacio de Deportes in Madrid, the capital city of Spain, from Friday, 4 March to Sunday, 6 March 2005. This was the first edition to be held in an odd year since switching to the b ...
. He doubled up at the
2005 World Championships in Athletics
The 10th World Championships in Athletics, under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), were held in the Olympic Stadium, Helsinki, Finland (6 August 2005 – 14 August 2005), the site of the first IAAF ...
, reaching the steeplechase final and finishing eleventh, although he failed to finish in the heats of the 5000 m. He closed the year by running at the
2005 European Cross Country Championships, just missing out on medals, seconds behind the bronze medallist in fifth. In 2006, he was tenth at the
2006 IAAF World Indoor Championships
The 11th IAAF World Indoor Championships in Athletics under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) was held in Moscow from March 10 to March 12, 2006 in the Olimpiyski Sport arena.
The announcement by the IA ...
in the 3000 m. He won the 5000 m in the Group A competition at the
2006 European Cup and managed seventh in the steeplechase at the
2006 European Athletics Championships
The 19th European Athletics Championships were held in Gothenburg, Sweden, between 7 August and 13 August 2006. The competition arena was the Ullevi Stadium and the official motto "Catch the Spirit". Gothenburg also hosted the 1995 World Champions ...
.
Move away from steeplechase
He began to run over longer distances from 2007 onwards, moving away from being a steeplechase specialist. He started the year at the
2007 European Athletics Indoor Championships
The 2007 European Athletics Indoor Championships were held in the National Indoor Arena (NIA) in Birmingham, England, from Friday, 2 March to Sunday, 4 March 2007. Birmingham also held the 2003 IAAF World Indoor Championships.
Men's results Track ...
, in which he competed in
3000 metres
The 3000 metres or 3000-metre run is a track running event, also commonly known as the "3K" or "3K run", where 7.5 laps are run around an outdoor 400 m track, or 15 laps around a 200 m indoor track.
It is debated whether the 3000m shoul ...
and finished seventh. He came second at the
2007 European Cup 10000m behind
André Pollmächer
Frank André Pollmächer (born 22 March 1983 in Riesa) is a German long-distance runner who specializes in the 5,000 and 10,000 metres.
Biography
Pollmächer finished seventh in the 10,000 metres final at the 2006 European Athletics Champions ...
in his first appearance at the competition. At the
2007 Osaka World Championships he suffered an injury after a collision with one of the barriers. He was subsequently rushed to hospital to treat facial injuries received in the fall which included a split lip, and a cut jaw. His was the most serious incident in a series of accidents in the long-distance events at the championships. Weidlinger was considered a certain qualifier and an outside medal chance. He returned to competition soon afterwards, taking tenth place in the
2007 IAAF World Athletics Final
The 5th IAAF World Athletics Final was held at the Gottlieb-Daimler-Stadion in Stuttgart, Germany on September 22 and September 23, 2007.
Results
Men
Women
See also
*2007 in athletics (track and field)
References
;Results2007 IAAF World ...
the following month and competing at his first
IAAF World Road Running Championships
The World Athletics Half Marathon Championships is a biennial international half marathon competition organised by World Athletics. The competition was launched as the IAAF World Half Marathon Championships in 1992 and held annually until 2010. It ...
at which he finished in 23rd place but set a national record of 1:01:42.
Weidlinger competed at the
Cinque Mulini
The Cinque Mulini is an annual cross country running race in San Vittore Olona, Italy. First held in 1933, the course is unusual in that it revolves around a number of water mills along Olona river, which lend the competition its name – meaning ' ...
cross country race in early 2008 and managed to finish in sixth place. He set two new national records in May that year: first, he ran 27:36.46 in the 10,000 m at the Payton Jordan Cardinal Invitational in
Palo Alto, California
Palo Alto (; Spanish language, Spanish for "tall stick") is a charter city in the northwestern corner of Santa Clara County, California, United States, in the San Francisco Bay Area, named after a Sequoia sempervirens, coastal redwood tree kno ...
, taking second behind
Craig Mottram
Craig Mottram (born 18 June 1980) is a former Australian long and middle-distance runner who specialised in the 5000 meter event.
Early years
Mottram was born on 18 June 1980 in Frankston, Victoria. He attended Geelong Grammar School.
Caree ...
. He then set a 10 km Austrian record at the
Great Manchester Run: his winning time of 28:10 was just enough to hold off
Serhiy Lebid
Serhiy Lebid or Serhii Lebid ( uk, Сергій Лебідь; born 15 July 1975 in Dnipropetrovsk) is a Ukrainian long-distance runner.
Career
He has won the European Cross Country championships on nine occasions, winning ...
and
Mustafa Mohamed
Mustafa Hassan Mohamed ( so, Mustafa Xasan Maxamed, ar, مصطفى حسن محمد) (born 1 March 1979) is a Swedish long-distance runner who mainly competes in the 3000 meter steeplechase.
Personal life
Mohamed was born in 1979 in Mogadishu, ...
at the finish line. Weidlinger won the Group A 5000 m for a second time at the
2008 European Cup. He competed in the 10,000 m at the
2008 Summer Olympics
The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...
in
Beijing
}
Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...
and finished 27th in a time of 28:14.38. This made him the fifth best performing European in the event. On September 1, 2008 he won the
Nike Human Race 10K race with a time of 29:25 while running in Munich, Germany.
Marathon debut
His first major event of 2009 was the
Vienna City Marathon
The Vienna City Marathon is an annual marathon race over the classic distance of 42.195 km held in Vienna, Austria since 1984.
History
The first edition was held on with a total of 794 competitors. It is Austria's largest road running even ...
, in which he finished in ninth place with a time of 2:12:39 for his debut over the distance. In his second marathon outing, Weidlinger improved the Austrian record by over one and a half minutes at the
Frankfurt Marathon
The Frankfurt Marathon (official name as of 2016: Mainova Frankfurt Marathon, until 2015: BMW Frankfurt Marathon, until 2010: Commerzbank Frankfurt Marathon) is a marathon which has taken place every year in Frankfurt am Main since its inception i ...
on 25 October 2009, setting a new mark of 2:10:47 to finish in tenth place. The record was previously held by
Gerhard Hartmann and had gone unbroken for over 23 years. In November, he won the
Great Australian Run
The Great Australian Run is an annual 15 kilometres road running race which normally takes place in November in Melbourne, Australia. First held in 2008, it is an international version of the British-based Great Run series.
The race featu ...
in a personal best and national record time of 43:01 for the 15 km race, defeating 2008 Olympic champion
Samuel Wanjiru
Samuel Kamau Wanjiru (10 November 1986 – 15 May 2011) was a Kenyan long-distance runner who won the 2008 Beijing Olympics Marathon in an Olympic record time of 2:06:32; becoming the first Kenyan to win the Olympic gold in the marathon. He beca ...
among others.
He returned to the Vienna City Marathon in 2010 and was Austria's best prospect for the podium. However, he finished in 12th place in 2:14:05 after suffering from a calf problem. His next major appearance came at the
Great South Run
The Great South Run is an annual 10 mile (16.09 km) road running race which takes place in Portsmouth, United Kingdom providing an intermediate distance between the ten kilometre and the half marathon (21.097 km) runs. Launched in 1990 ...
in October and he ended the race in sixth position.
[Martin, Dave (2010-10-24)]
Ebuya clocks the fastest ever 10 Miles in UK
IAAF
World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation (from 1912 to 2001) and International Association of Athletics Federations (from 2001 to 2019, both abbreviated as the IAAF) is the international governing body for ...
. Retrieved on 2010-10-24.
Achievements
Personal bests
*
All information taken from IAAF profile.
Road race wins
*
Great Manchester Run: 2008
*
Great Australian Run
The Great Australian Run is an annual 15 kilometres road running race which normally takes place in November in Melbourne, Australia. First held in 2008, it is an international version of the British-based Great Run series.
The race featu ...
: 2009
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Weidlinger, Gunther
1978 births
Living people
Austrian male marathon runners
Austrian male long-distance runners
Austrian male steeplechase runners
Athletes (track and field) at the 2000 Summer Olympics
Athletes (track and field) at the 2004 Summer Olympics
Athletes (track and field) at the 2008 Summer Olympics
Athletes (track and field) at the 2012 Summer Olympics
Olympic athletes of Austria
People from Braunau am Inn
Sportspeople from Upper Austria