The Lengdorf sports shooter wants to go to the European Championship, where the last quota places for the Olympics will be awarded.
Lengdorf– The way to Tokyo is already a long way.
But Maxi Dallinger has to go to Osijek, Croatia, in three weeks' time to get the ticket for the Olympics at the European Championships.
Before that, however, he also made a stopover in Hanover.
Yesterday, Wednesday, the marksman drove from Lengdorf to the Lower Saxony metropolis. The best eight small-caliber shooters will shoot there on three days from Friday who is allowed to go to the European Championships in Croatia. No matter how things go with the small-bore rifle this weekend - Dallinger will definitely be there, because he has already qualified for the European Championship with the air rifle.
And it looks good for him with the small caliber too. The first shooting among the squad shooters took place four weeks ago. The best eight men and women for the three days in Hanover were to be determined. “I won the preliminary round,” reports the 24-year-old. The lead was clear. However, he cannot take the points with him. “Everything will be set to zero,” says Dallinger, “but the chances are very good that I will be in the top three”. The exercise performance makes him confident. “At the moment I'm in a really good mood.” Personally, he developed further as an athlete in the past year.
After Hanover, his eyes will be on the competitions in Osijek, and it is a bit anxious to look at it, because three weeks before the competition, the Croatians cannot present a hygiene concept. That was the reason why the German Schützenbund did not send the junior squad to the EM. "And we will probably only shoot the Olympic disciplines," says Dallinger, who is preparing for a somewhat curious European Championship. Because the Croatian Federation has built some test competitions into the program in addition to the standard ones, there is no time for an elimination shootout. According to Dallinger, this always precedes the actual shooting when there are too many shooters at the start. The Croatians solve the problem by setting one shooting in the morning and the other in the afternoon. "You run the risk ofthat there are different conditions, ”the sports policeman knows. "In terms of fairness, that's a tough gray area."
It's not just about the European Championship title.
With the air rifle two more quota places for the Olympics are awarded, with the small caliber one more place.
Dallinger would like to seize this last chance.
He has already let another slip by - voluntarily.
A World Cup took place in India at the beginning of April.
The risk was too high for the German association.
Ultimately, shooters from countries whose corona vaccination rate is already very high took part.
Maxi Dallinger has his vaccination appointment next week.
Until then and afterwards there is training.
He does his three-hour program in Garching-Hochbrück four to five times a week.
Everything should be done: for the EM and for Tokyo.
DIETER PRIGLMEIR
