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Hendrik Pfeiffer
Hendrik Pfeiffer
Hendrik Pfeiffer narrowly missed out on qualifying for the Olympic marathon. In Houston in January, he ran a fantastic race in which he set the pace himself at the front for a long time due to a lack of pacemakers. In the end, he missed out on a ticket to the Games in Paris by an annoying ten seconds. But he was able to console himself with a strong third place and a significantly improved personal best of 2:07:14 hours. Hendrik Pfeiffer has also been nominated as a substitute runner for the Games.
Hendrik Pfeiffer specialised in the marathon early on. In 2016, he caused a sensation when he finished third in his debut over the 42.195 km at the Düsseldorf Marathon in 2:13:11 hours to qualify for the Olympics at the last minute. But the dream of competing at the Games had to wait. Due to serious heel injuries, he first missed the Olympic Games in Rio and then also the European Championships in Berlin in 2018. After two operations, however, Hendrik Pfeiffer returned in 2020: in Seville, he ran his current best time of 2:10:18, which enabled him to qualify for the Olympics in Japan. In Sapporo, where the 2021 Olympic marathon races took place, he finished 50th.
In 2022, Hendrik Pfeiffer ran to the biggest victory of his career to date: he won the Hannover Marathon in 2:10:59. This was followed by the European Championship marathon in Munich, where he was not at his best due to coronavirus, but still won the silver medal with the German team.
Hendrik Pfeiffer now lives in Hanover, where the marathon organiser was also able to offer the journalism student career prospects. He is also to help set up a new running project for the Lower Saxony Athletics Association there. He has now taken control of his training himself. However, his coach of many years in Wattenscheid, Tono Kirschbaum, is still on hand to advise him. Hendrik Pfeiffer is married to Esther Pfeiffer (formerly Jacobitz). She is trained by him and also competes in the GENERALI BERLIN HALF MARATHON.