– including US sprint superstar Justin Gatlin and Australian hurdler Sally Pearson. The top international athletes were met with an unusual competitor though as Tom Öhler suddenly wheeled his trials bike onto the track.
Bike vs. man. The excitement became even greater when the reason for his appearance was revealed. The 30-year-old has ma
de it his mission to break the 400-metre hurdle world trialbiking record. The record mark has been set by the Guinness Book of Records at 49 seconds – and was smashed in some style. Adding to the entertainment was the sight of Olympic 400 metre hurdles champion Felix Sanchez from the Dominican Republic racing against the trials bike. Öhler ultimately left Sanchez well behind and delighted the crowd by smashing the current world record in the discipline of 46.78 seconds (for those without pedal power). Öhler can now claim to be the fastest man over the distance. Bunny hop. What looks relatively simple at first, in reality demands a huge amount of stamina, precision and technique. “At the start the runner has a clear advantage as his acceleration is significantly higher. The difficult thing for me is to keep my rhythm as fluent as possible, meaning switching and timing well between jumping and sprinting,” says Öhler on his event. The jumping technique you need to hurdle is known in the trialbiking world as a bunny hop.
Respect from Olympic champion. A panting Felix Sanchez was clearly impressed at the finish line: “At the start I was up and away, but then he just left me stranded. What a performance, I have never taken part in a race as crazy as that!”
92 x 10. Öhler was aiming to take his place as a Guinness World Record holder. The Records Management Team in London were verifying the effort on the basis of the usual procedure. The Austrian was thrilled to have achieved his goal, saying: “It was extremely tough but really a super experience!” His bike leapt over ten 92-centimetre-high hurdles for the record run.
Tom Öhler sets world record in Linz Hurdles are there to be cleared. Tom Öhler proved this in impressive fashion in Linz. He got the idea for his record bid during his sport studies and has already flashed his unique ability on a major German TV show. He will now be heading to the USA for three weeks, where he has been booked for a number of trialbiking shows.
After doing a BMX 'zine for ten years (1987 - 1996) FATBMX made it on the internet. The year was 1998. Here to stay.