Lena Raidel starts at the Austrian Championships on Saturday. For the weightlifter, it will be a race against time and the scales.
Three more days – weightlifter Lena Raidel has time to be able to take part in the state championships in Buchkirchen near Wels (Upper Austria) on Saturday. Why? “I weigh too much and still have to lose one and a half kilos,” explains the 18-year-old from Union Lochen, who competes in the class up to 64 kilograms. Raidel reassured that the weight is always too high before a competition. As a countermeasure, she intensifies the cardio units and saves on food intake. Or do without it entirely: “In the worst case, I don’t eat anything,” says the girl from Straßwalchen. The SSM graduate has two big highlights of the season within two weeks. In mid-October, the weightlifter is challenged at the U20 European Championships in Tirana (Alb). But the focus is on the state championships, where she, like the second Salzburger Petra Schmutzer (-55 kg), calculates the best chance of winning a medal. “Gold is more likely there than getting a top place at the European Championships,” says Raidel. Especially because the 18-year-old will compete in the Albanian capital against athletes who are two years older – a massive difference in terms of physical development. It doesn’t matter how the competition ends on Saturday: the reward will be a good meal. “It will either be a happy meal or a frustration meal,” says Raidel.
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