I attended my first international showdown tournament. I was very nervous and unfortunately that showed in the games. During the first group phase I lost all my matches and was put in the last group S. The 2nd day I had no games because of this. So I went shopping with my girlfriend in Bologna 😇 On the 3rd day I had 4 games and won all but the last one. My final result is 49 out of 52 men. It’s ok. Many thanks to Nicole for coaching me sometimes and now I know what to train for. My next tournament will be in November in Zurich.

Video in two times speed of the end of my last game:

Here are my results:

AUGUST 21, THURSDAY

Time: 8:00 – Table: 6 Lomaier Stefan vs Schmitt Florent Set 1: 11-8; Set 2: 3-12; Set 3: 4-12; Set 4: 0-0; Set 5: 0-0 Winner: Schmitt Florent

Time: 10:30 – Table: 1 Lomaier Stefan vs Milaret Yohann Set 1: 4-12; Set 2: 4-11; Set 3: 0-0; Set 4: 0-0; Set 5: 0-0 Winner: Milaret Yohann

Time: 12:30 – Table: 5 Di Bari Vincenzo vs Lomaier Stefan Set 1: 11-3; Set 2: 12-6; Set 3: 0-0; Set 4: 0-0; Set 5: 0-0 Winner: Di Bari Vincenzo

Time: 16:00 – Table: 9 Bouilloux Franck vs Lomaier Stefan Set 1: 11-3; Set 2: 12-6; Set 3: 0-0; Set 4: 0-0; Set 5: 0-0 Winner: Bouilloux Franck

AUGUST 23, SATURDAY

Time: 9:00 – Table: 7 Lomaier Stefan vs Adriaensen Thomas Set 1: 11-8; Set 2: 11-5; Set 3: 0-0; Set 4: 0-0; Set 5: 0-0 Winner: Lomaier Stefan

Time: 11:15 – Table: 2 Vercauteren Jirge vs Lomaier Stefan Set 1: 10-13; Set 2: 11-5; Set 3: 8-11; Set 4: 0-0; Set 5: 0-0 Winner: Lomaier Stefan

Time: 12:45 – Table: 1 Bertrand Pierre vs Lomaier Stefan Set 1: 0-11; Set 2: 0-11; Set 3: 0-0; Set 4: 0-0; Set 5: 0-0 Winner: Lomaier Stefan

Time: 15:45 – Table: 9 Harnandan Sergio vs Lomaier Stefan Set 1: 4-11; Set 2: 12-10; Set 3: 5-11; Set 4: 0-0; Set 5: 0-0 Winner: Lomaier Stefan

Time: 16:45 – Table: 1 Lomaier Stefan vs Arbos Ginard Carlos Set 1: 7-12; Set 2: 12-10; Set 3: 2-12; Set 4: 0-0; Set 5: 0-0 Winner: Arbos Ginard Carlos

After my slow start at the German ParaAthletic Championship the week before I wanted to run quick from the start. The temperature was similar. Around 34 degrees celsius. Very hot! This time the warmup was not rushed in any way and my trainer Carlos made a stride training the Tuesday before: start with quick and fast sprint strides to top speed and then switch to long speed preserving strides until the end. There was one other person in my race, which was way slower. So I basically ran alone with Simon this time. No fast people running away from me this time.

The start was good this time and I kept the speed pretty well. 3-4 strides after the finish I fell… But the time was finally below 70: 68.23 seconds. Finally I managed a good 400m race as intended!

Video of start and finish (Don’t look at the fall at the end!):

On 14th of June I attendend the German ParaAthletic Championship 2025 in Leichlingen. I ran 400m again with Simon as my Guide. The day was very hot. Our preparation was a bit hurried, because I mixed up some times. But nonetheless we did a good warmup and went to the start. From the get go I held back a bit, because eof the 34 degress celsius. I just should’ve given it all. I did the bigger steps right from the start instaed of accelarating with smaller steps to top speed first. So in the end i got a new PB with 70.23, but my trainer and guide agreed I left some seconds on the track. Hope to do better next week in Vienna!

Here is a video with the start and finish of the race:

On May 17th I attended the Ludwig Jall Sportfest in the Dante Stadium in Munich. After the fall the week before in Regensburg (Read more) my goal for this reace was to not overpace in the beginning and use long strides for the race. This time I ran with Edi. He is one of my regular guides for track training outside. We had a good warm up and made some speed progression runs to the target pace for the race. This always helps me to note overpace. It also did this time. The start was a bit delayed. 4 times we heard “on your marks”, because there was a technical issue with the loud speaker.

But then it was resolved and we were off. We really hit the target pace well and powered through the whole 400m and finished in 70.6 seconds. A new personal best for me. At the medial ceremony we both got a gold medal. It really was a great race and I’m looking forward to the German para athletics champhionship in the middle of June!

I made a video of the race with my Meta Glasses and videos from my family:

On May 17th, I attended the Rolf Watter Sportfest in Regensburg with my guide, Simon. The race started quite late, at 18:30, but I was determined to run under 70 seconds. My start felt strong, and I was ready to give it my all. Unfortunately, I went out too fast and overpaced myself. My stride was too short and my frequency too high, which quickly caught up with me.

After 300 meters, I started to feel the lactate building up in my legs. By 350 meters, I began to stumble and ended up falling. 🙈 Nevertheless, I got back up and finished the race in 80.03 seconds—more than 10 seconds over my goal, and with scraped knees to show for it.

My next competition is in one week. I’ll focus on taking longer strides and pacing myself better. Onward and upward!

My guide Simon and me posing at the start.

My guide Simon and me in start position.

My guide Simon and me running at full speed in the first corner.

And here is a video of the start and my fall at the end: