Before the talk at the Oberbank Forum, OÖ Nachrichten met European champion Richard Ringer exclusively for an interview.
Richard Ringer jogged an easy eight kilometers along the Danube yesterday to warm up for the kick-off evening of the 21st Oberbank Linz Danube Marathon. The European marathon champion from Überlingen on Lake Constance has had tough weeks of training behind him. The 33-year-old, who made German sports history last summer in Munich, revealed what else he plans to do in an interview with OÖN.
OÖN: Hardly anyone had you in mind before the European Athletics Championships at home in Munich in August 2022, but then you ran to gold, the first ever for a German in the marathon. How did you experience that day?
Richard Ringer: It still gives me goose bumps. It was an incredibly emotional day, one that I had actually been preparing for for years. The tens of thousands of people at Odeonsplatz mobilized all the energy I had at my disposal at the end. I put on the turbo and was able to overtake my Israeli opponent in the final meters. It all hurt, but I was simply the strongest in my head that day. Because not everything went smoothly during the preparation.
What were the specifics?
I twisted my ankle in the winter training camp in Kenya and had a ten-day break from running. And then, five weeks before the European Championships, I suffered an injury in my left foot. I had to give up running for a week, but I did a lot of other things, for example many hours of cycling, cross-training and swimming. I did hill sprints on the road bike, for example. I had the same terrible leg pain again in the European Championship finish. And from that point of view I was well prepared.
There were many pieces of the puzzle that led to this success. What was the cap all about?
It was a really hot day, even though we were lucky with the weather. My mother sewed my own little bags into several caps, into which you could put crash ice. I could always exchange them at the aid stations. That worked out great, I always had a cool head.
What is special about these 42.195 kilometers for you?
The attraction for me is that there are thousands of people at the start together, from top runners to hobby runners. Then there's the unique atmosphere when you run through a city, which can't be compared with anything else.
At peak times, you run around 200 kilometers a week, but you also work part-time as a controller. How do you reconcile all that?
I went straight back to work after the European Championships. For me, it's a great balance and shows me that it's not a matter of course to be able to do this sport. I appreciate it all the more when I can fully focus on training and regeneration in the immediate preparation for a race.
What are your next goals?
I want to qualify for the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris this spring, ideally right away in Hamburg. I'm confident that I can achieve something there.
Photo: Klaus Mitterhauser
