GERMAN MEETINGS: KARLSRUHE – Cindy Roleder is looking forward to the grandiose atmosphere at the INDOOR MEETING Karlsruhe 2017

There is no one in Europe as fast as Cindy Roleder when it comes to hurdles. Originally from Leipzig, she was the fastest at the European championship in Amsterdam in 2016.

She is now the first athlete to confirm her participation in the INDOOR MEETING in Karlsruhe on the 4th of February 2017. “The atmosphere is grandiose and the competition is high. I love running under these circumstances “, says the vice world champion and European champion of 60-metre hurdles.”

When Wolf‐Dieter Poschmann hosted the business evening of athletics in the Buhlschen Mühle Ettlingen, she was a guest and gave an insight into her season planning: “Right now, I am fully immerged into development training. My muscles are sore – but I am still standing.” For the next season Roleder, who runs for SV Halle from now on, wants to be in top shape.

“The track in Karlsruhe is very fast, so my goal is to reach world championship results and also my personal best. I expect Alain Bondel to come up with a nice track for the 60-metre hurdles.“

Despite the hurdles for women not making it to the World Indoor Tour this year, sporting director Alain Bondel added the 60-metre hurdles to the meeting program especially for the European champion.

“We want to see the topnotch German athletes in Karlsruhe. Naturally, with her title, Cindy goes with it.”

The IAAF World Indoor Tour, which is happening for the second time this year, stops in Karlsruhe as well as in Boston (USA), Düsseldorf (GER), Torun (PL) and Birmingham (GB) and has therefore become a successful international series. In the future, global marketing opportunities will arise for Karlsruhe and the INDOOR MEETING, moreover the sport will be valorised:

There will be trophy money for every tour winner of each discipline as well as a wild card for the next indoor world championship in Birmingham 2018. This is supposed to serve as an incentive to attract more stars into the World Indoor Tour arenas in the future.

Right next to Roleder’s speciality discipline, the female athletes in the fair hall Karlsruhe will start in 60-metre, 800-metre and 3.000-metre run, also in pole vault and for the first time in 33 years in the history of INDOOR MEETING, there will be women’s shot put.

The men will start in 60-metre hurdles, a 3.000-metre run as well as long and high jump for the World Indoor Tour. Additionally, local hero Christoph Kessler from LG Region Karlsruhe will run the 800-metre run. “It is one of the best indoor meetings we have world wide”, says Frank Kowalski, manager of the European Athletics Championship, which will take place in Berlin 2018.

“One cannot really compare it to the European championship, but it definitely correlates. The INDOOR MEETING is Germany’s poster child.” It is clear that events like this could not be happening without public funds. However, there will be a repayment, not in the form of money, but there will be attention and image among many other things that become more and more important for cities nowadays.

“The INDOOR MEETING has become the place to be for the economy”, says Martin Wacker, meeting director and manager of Karlsruhe Event GmbH. There are plenty of business seats enquiries even before the official ticket sale kicks off. This meeting is the poster child of the whole region and is recognised worldwide. Live footage from the hall is being broadcasted all across the globe.

“We are more than happy that Eurosport will broadcast live for two hours from the fair hall – especially on a Saturday night from 6.30 to 8.30 prime time”, Wacker adds. Spectacular sport and Karlsruhe’s name are now strongly interwoven with each other and therefore serve as a vehicle for advertising the city, the region and its local economy 

The pre-sale for the INDOOR MEETING starts on November 24. Tickets for block F and I can be bought at Karlsruhe’s Christmas market in front of the ‘Weihnachtshütte’ that belongs to Karlsruhe Event GmbH (stall 63).

Tickets for every category can be purchased at the tourist information office, Bahnhofsplatz 6, 76137 Karlsruhe, via the ticket hotline +49721 25 000 or online at www.ticketmaster.de.

Business seats are available at +49721 782045 210.

Philipp Schätzle 

Indoor Meeting Karlsruhe