Weyermann beaten at Swiss championships
The Swiss middle-distance runner, Anita Weyermann, has had to settle for second place in her comeback appearance at the national championships in Lugano.
The Bernese athlete was beaten in the 1500 metres by Sabine Pfister who herself missed out on the Olympic qualifying limit by just 74 hundredths of a second.
Weyermann appeared to be heading for victory halfway through the race, but lost the lead after 850 metres. After falling behind several runners, she was at least able to fight back into second place in the last 200 metres.
For Weyermann the result further reduces her own chances of qualifying for the Sydney games, although the Swiss Athletics Association has extended the period in which she has to qualify in consideration of the injury problems which have blighted her season so far.
Weyermann is seen as one of Switzerland’s best medal hopes for the Olympics if she can get herself back on track. A bronze medallist at the World Championships, the 23-year-old athlete is the current Swiss record holder in the 1500 metres.
Another Swiss Olympic hopeful, Paolo Della Santa, could only manage second place in the 110 metre hurdles but, unlike Weyermann, the man from Ticino finished in a time sufficient to ensure Olympic qualification.
Despite booking his place for Sydney, Della Santa said he was disappointed not to have won the race, after being beaten into second place by another Swiss athlete, Raphael Monachon. “I wasn’t even thinking about the (Olympic) limit,” Della Santa insisted. “I just wanted to win in front of my home crowd.”
To qualify for Sydney, the Ticinese runner had to meet the Olympic standard twice. Having already achieved the necessary time at the Athletissima meeting in Lausanne, Della Santa was widely expected to repeat the feat in Lugano.
Monachon, who pipped Della Santa by one hundredth of a second, must now beat the limit once more to have any hope of joining his compatriot at the games.
swissinfo with agencies
In compliance with the JTI standards
More: SWI swissinfo.ch certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.