Athletics Joshua Hartmann
False start drama involving German record runner
Status: 11.06.2024 | Reading time: 2 minutes
Joshua Hartmann (r) after the semi-final next to the eventual winner Timothe Mumenthaler from Switzerland
Source: dpa/Oliver Weiken
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The German sprinter Joshua Hartmann has enormous potential over the 200 meter distance. But at the European Championships in Rome, his medal dream ended at the starting block. In the steeplechase, another German took bronze with a personal best time.
Bitter end for sprinter Joshua Hartmann: After a false start at the European Athletics Championships in Rome, he qualified for the final over 200 meters. The national record holder from Cologne thus had to cope with yet another disappointment at international championships one day after his 25th birthday.
What was particularly bitter was that the German record holder was considered an outsider to win gold. “I will take this like any defeat. I will get up and come back stronger,” Hartmann said on ZDF.
The victory on Tuesday went to the Swiss Timothé Mumenthaler in 20.28 seconds, ahead of the Italian Filippo Tortu, who crossed the finish line after 20.41 seconds. The Swiss William Reais came third.
Hartmann missed out on becoming the first German sprinter to break the 20-second mark by just two hundredths of a second in his record-breaking run in Kassel last year. He was eliminated early in the following World Championships in Budapest.
Obstacle runner Bebendorf wins bronze
However, the German steeplechase runner Karl Bebendorf was able to celebrate a medal: he won bronze. The 28-year-old from Dresden was only beaten by the Frenchmen Alexis Miellet and Djilali Bedrani after the 3000 meters in 8:14.41 minutes on Monday. Miellet won in 8:14.01 minutes, Bedrani ran 8:14.36 minutes.
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“I’m happy that I managed to get through this crazy time,” said Bebendorf after his personal best. “Now I’m going on vacation and then we’ll see each other again at the Olympics in Paris.” He is skipping the German championships in Braunschweig at the end of June in preparation for the Olympics.
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The last German medal over this distance was in 1998, when Damian Kallabis became European champion. Bebendorf almost sprinted to silver and achieved a personal best, as did Frederik Ruppert from Tübingen, who came fourth in 8:15.08 minutes.
