In 2009 he was European youth champion, in 2011 in Poland he was world champion of the junior middle distance at the same time as the Finn Topias Tiainen and the Russian Dmitri Nakonetschnij , in the long distance he won the silver medal. He then started at the World Championships for active athletes in France in 2011 and came in seventh place in the sprint.
Merl runs for the ASKÖ Henndorf association from Flachgau .