The former GDR star sprinter Thomas Schönlebe has lost his European record over 400 m after 36 years.
In the semifinals of the World Championships in Budapest, Brit Matthew Hudson-Smith ran in 44.26 seconds, seven hundredths faster than the 58-year-old Saxon who won the title at the 1987 World Championships in Rome.
Schönlebe’s record had shook violently a few times. In the ’90s, Britons Iwan Thomas (44.36), Roger Black and Mark Richardson (both 44.37) came close. In Budapest, the Norwegian Havard Bentdal Ingvaldsen had scored 44.39 in the heat.
But it was far from the oldest European record: Pietro Mennea (19.72), who died ten years ago, has been the continental number one over 200 m since 1979.