World Cup column by Frank Busemann on Joshua Hartmann’s bitter end

The World Cup is not the German Championship, Joshua Hartmann found that out bitterly. You shouldn’t make such mistakes, says ARD athletics expert Frank Busemann. But he also knows from his own experience that they happen. That’s why the ex-decathlete can empathize with Hartmann and meanwhile jumps to the finish line of every fun run as if there were no tomorrow.

There are moments in life when you just want to turn back time. Whenever an error occurs. When the alleged originator of this unexpected breach of norms suddenly has to realize that he made the wrong decision in fractions of a second.

Basically, every athlete goes into a competition with a certain idea. He brings a certain previous performance, consults the latest training results and formulates a minimum and a maximum goal from all sorts of factors. In business, this min-max relationship also exists as a principle.

In the minimum principle one tries to achieve a certain goal with as few resources as possible, in the maximum principle one tries to achieve the best possible result with the available resources. We find the former in the advanced level athlete in heats, the latter in the finals. Just don’t mix this approach.

When the Usains or Noahs start their final jog

Joshua Hartmann, the new German record holder over 200 meters and with a jubilant step almost on the 19 before the comma, should see surviving the opening lap as more of a duty than a freestyle. Expectations, on the other hand, were high on all sides. He marched through the curve as befits a world-class runner in the heats.

In the past we saw the slight cramping that spread all too often when the Usains or Noahs from overseas started their final jog. They looked left and right, protected themselves, and this darting archer named Bolt sometimes talked to the opposition in the last few meters. Can be done, does not have to be. But for that you have to have arrows in your quiver, which you only shoot in the celebration of victory.

The World Cup is not the DM

So far, Germany’s maxim has been: run for your life. There could be no tomorrow. But Hartmann was in too good a mood. It was easy and then, unfortunately, he gave in to the fallacy that there was enough buffer available at the back. But the World Cup is not the DM. Not even in advance. No looking. Peripheral spins can still be tolerated, but head twists tore him from all dreams. The pre-run was also the end of the line. Pure disappointment. Everywhere. A mistake, he realized.

Of course, that was too obvious. Half of Germany hit it off. Naturally. The error was too obvious for that. That’s why straightening didn’t help. That was clear, the result would not have improved. Out is out. You shouldn’t make mistakes like that. Anyone watching what happened knows that. Even I…

I, the discus and the mistakes

I used to be an athlete, then I threw discus at the Olympic Games. 33.71 meters. world record. From behind. Nobody was that bad. That was a mistake. I wanted to finish fourth at the 60m hurdles world championships. Next to me the Cuban was strong, crap I thought, I’ll only finish fifth. I ran straight through the finish line. That was a mistake. I had to realize that I was seventh. Seventh. Because I gave up and the others jumped to the finish with a death dive. That was a mistake.

It is called a mistake because it deviates from the norm and the actual performance. Out of whichever reasons. Happens. Unfortunately. But it happens. And that’s stupid.

Since then, I’ve jumped to the finish line of every fun run like there was no tomorrow. And Hartmann will probably never look over and think that the prelim is a mere formality. But I still can’t throw a discus.