One of the most notable sports sensations of the past few days was delivered by the Bad Leonfelden biathlete Rene Maureder at the junior state championships held in Villach. The young Mühlviertler won three Austrian championship titles. Maureder started his triumphal procession on Thursday with the skating sprint on the cross-country ski run. Here he gave the competition no chance and celebrated a superior victory. Paul Peherstorfer made it to the semifinals and finished eighth there.
Maureder was also unbeatable in the classic style race on Friday and won his second title. Peherstorfer finished eleventh in the very strong junior class. However, the top runners in this class are already a year older. Looking at Peherstorfer’s year of birth alone, he still finished fourth in his year.
The race-free Saturday was used for a trip to nearby Planica. There, as onlookers at the Nordic World Championships, the team got an extra boost of motivation from the big role models.
The relay races in the free technique formed the end of the domestic championship on Sunday. Here Rene won the third Austrian championship gold medal in the Upper Austrian three-person relay together with the two Eidenberger runners Nicolas Höllwirth and Valentin Oberndorfer. In the youth class, the Upper Austrian team with the Bad Leonfelden biathlete Paul Peherstorfer took ninth place. The grandiose achievements of the Bad Leonfelden biathletes show that they also belong to the national top in special cross-country skiing. The very dedicated team of coaches of the young Nordic athletes from the Mühlviertel played a large part in these successes.
