Germany’s Owen Ansah storms to European gold over 200m in 19.95 while Great Britain’s Zharnel Hughes takes his sixth European medal.
In summary:
- Owen Ansah upgrades his 100m bronze to 200m gold
- Zharnel Hughes celebrates sixth European medal in front of home crowd
- Eseosa Fostine Desalu and Timothé Mumenthaler share bronze
It was Hughes who received the loudest cheer as each athlete was announced onto the track one-by-one but he would face the reigning champion, Timothé Mumenthaler, and Ansah who held the same season’s best as the Briton.
They all burst out of the blocks with very little separating them, but as they rounded the bend Hughes was in a strong position and looked poised to take the gold.
He was carried by the packed British crowd towards the line, but the 25-year-old German with about 50m to go found a surge to not only catch the home favourite but start to edge past.
Step by step Ansah moved another centimetre ahead of Hughes before dipping through the line 0.21 seconds ahead of Hughes in second.
But while those two battled for gold, Mumenthaler in lane four and Eseosa Fostine Desalu in lane eight fought to make it onto the podium with both athletes desperately dipping, unaware of just how identical their race was with the other.
It went to photo finish but the pair were unable to be separated, a very rare occurrence on the track, and so they were both awarded the bronze medal with a time of 20.26 each.
Ansah was desperate to know the wind reading post race as this was his first 200m under the magic 20 second barrier, though it measured as a +2.3m/s wind reading so while not an official PB it is still the German’s first sub-20.
What they said…
Owen Ansah: “I hope everyone will know my name now. This was the goal - to leave the Europeans with two medals, a bronze and gold is amazing for me. The stadium is crazy today. Before the race, I was told about that the stadium was sold out and I wanted to give Birmingham a show. I did it. The 100m bronze was just a warm up for me. The 200m was always the main goal. My coach always told me I am a 200m sprinter. Today I finally believed it. This race was just more for me. At a championship you never know what can happen. Birmingham has definitely delivered for me.”
Timothé Mumenthaler: “I have mixed feelings, because I wanted to win gold. I knew I had something crazy in my legs, that I could run a fast time. I have been working hard during the last six months, so I am a bit disappointed, but at the end of the day I still have a medal. I guess I am still young, only 23, and I have already a gold and now a bronze, so there are more great things to come. My coach told me to stay calm, he knew I had some fast times in my legs, I decided to stay locked in and focused on my own execution. I forgot about the others, just did my own race. I think this medal is a great sign. I have changed my environment, I am training in Italy with a pro group. I have changed so many things around me, so it's great to see it works and that I'm on the right direction. It's a good sign for the future. Joining a pro group, with people who have the same strong mindset, has helped me a lot. They are pushing me forward, beyond my limits. I think that's what I needed, and it led to a medal like this.”