Joshua Hartmann ran the 200m in fifth place when Zharnel Hughes (Great Britain) triumphed at the European Championships in Munich.
After 20.50 seconds, the man from Cologne celebrated the greatest international success of his career. Hartmann is hoping for a medal in the 4×100 m relay on Sunday.
“There’s still a lot going on in the next few years. Tomorrow I’ll have another quieter day when I can recharge my batteries, and then motivation alone will carry me to the start on Sunday if I have to,” said Hartmann: “But I think I’ll definitely feel great again on Sunday and then we’ll see what’s up – hopefully the relay will be gold then.”
Top favorite Hughes, who was second in the 100 m in Munich, couldn’t be beat in 20.07 seconds. His compatriot Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake (20.17) made the double victory perfect for the British. The Italian Filippo Tortu secured bronze with 20.27 seconds. Defending champion Ramil Guliyev (Turkey) had to retire injured.
Owen Ansah (Hamburg) was eliminated in the semi-finals, Robin Erewa (Wattenscheid) failed in the heats.
Most recently, 36 years ago, German sprinters were in a European Championship final over half a stadium lap. Jürgen Evers won silver for the Federal Republic in Stuttgart, Thomas Schröder, Olaf Prenzler and Frank Emmelmann were there for the GDR. In 1982, Prenzler was the last European champion from Germany over the 200 m.