Athletics Gina Luckenemper faces stiff competition

She won’t be competing in the European Indoor Championships, but Gina Luckenkemper (SCC Berlin) will still be competing in a major competition this winter.

BIRMINGHAM — A week after winning the 60m title at the German Indoor Championships in Dortmund, Lückenkemper will start in the World Indoor Tour final in Birmingham on Saturday. The 26-year-old is the only German entrant to compete in Great Britain alongside European 5000m champion Konstanze Klosterralfen (TSV Bayer 04 Leverkusen).

The 200-meter world champion and record holder also starts

Lückenkemper has to deal with tough competition. Among the starters were 200m world champion Sherica Jackson of Jamaica and British 100m and 200m record holder Dina Asher-Smith.

With her season’s best time of 7.16 seconds, Lückenkemper ranks fifth in a field of 16 runners. The qualifying standard for the European Indoor Championships (7.24 seconds), which starts next week in Istanbul, has been undermined several times this year by the former LAZ Soest athlete. However, after winning the title at the Indoor Championships in Dortmund, she announced that she will not start at the European Championships and will instead focus fully on her start at the World Outdoor Championships in Budapest (August 19-27) this year.

German champion in the 60m indoor event

The World Indoor Tour is a series of seven indoor competitions in Europe and the USA. The overall winners in the various disciplines will receive $10,000 in prize money as well as a wild card to next year’s World Indoor Championships in Glasgow.

The first start signal is Saturday at 3:03 PM German time

The first go-ahead for the races in the women’s 60m will be on Saturday at 3.03pm German time, with the final scheduled for 4.17pm.