Athletics – Short sprinters with long stamina

When Jannik Engel rewinds his mind ten years ago, everything seems clear and still mysterious at the same time. He remembers how he, a 23-year-old athletics coach who was looking for talent in schools in the Cologne area, noticed this 14-year-old “bundle of energy”. A lanky guy who wasn’t the fastest or strongest, but who had something about him that couldn’t be measured in times and strength: the way he bounced across the ground, light, elegant, there was something about it that quickly planted an idea in the coach’s head of something bigger. Even today, Engel says, he is “a little surprised by what I showed him back then, about where the journey could lead.”

The German Athletics Championships in Braunschweig this weekend are the last big mood test before the Olympics, and a similar rollercoaster is already emerging as was the case at the European Championships in Rome: with good performances, but also with injury concerns and dropouts such as Malaika Mihambo (coronavirus) and Konstanze Klosterhalfen (infection). And with someone whose journey has taken him from a 14-year-old bundle of energy to one of Germany’s greatest hopes in the sprint: Joshua Hartmann, ASV Cologne, 25 years old.

In the long term, Hartmann could devote himself to the 400 metres again

The numbers look very good again this year: 10.06 seconds over 100 meters, the German best time of the year and five hundredths of a second over Julian Reus’ German record. In addition, he ran 20.36 seconds over 200 meters, which he ran in the German record time (20.02) at the national championships last year. No expert doubts that Hartmann can run the 100 meters in under ten seconds and the 200 in under 20 seconds, as the first German to do so. If he had not celebrated too early in his record run over 200 meters, there would probably already be a 19 in front of the decimal point.

In addition to strong times and fifth place at the European Championships two years ago over 200 metres, the missed opportunities also stand out so far. Failed relay changes at major events. The 200 metre heat at the World Championships a year ago, when Hartmann spun out early and missed the semi-finals. Most recently, the European Championship final in Rome, when he, one of the favourites, fell out of the block too early and had a false start. “I will get up and come back stronger,” Hartmann has said more often recently than he would like.

Of course, says his trainer, that can now easily be combined into a leitmotif: “nervous breakdown” – he can’t handle it when it counts. Hartmann certainly made “relevant mistakes” from which one can learn. However, the whole thing “has to be viewed in a much more differentiated way”, as mistakes in substitutions and false starts are part of sport. And the trainer can be forgiven for asking for patience. Because, contrary to some outsiders’ opinions, patience has always served Engel quite well so far.

Especially at the beginning, as a young trainer, he had to listen to people asking what was supposedly wrong with Hartmann: Why is he still so skinny? Why does he train so little when he is supposed to be trained as a 400-meter runner? But Engel knew that Hartmann could not yet handle too many stimuli, and the aim was always to let his skills blossom with the big boys, not in the youth classes, where German talents tend to overpace. In any case, Engel believed in Hartmann’s talent for the stadium lap, with his energy-saving, elegant stride and a sprinting strength that is even more evident the longer the distance. “I also don’t rule out the possibility that we will approach the stadium lap again in the long term,” says Engel.

You have to look for races that are uncomfortable for Hartmann, says his trainer

His 400-meter school had just one, well, catch: Since Engel relies heavily on shorter races, Hartmann showed his talent there early on, sprinting the 100 meters in 10.16 seconds at the age of 20. And because many talents who now form the backbone of the national relay team matured in the prestigious short sprint, and because promotion and success are easier through the relay, Hartmann initially dedicated himself to the short distances.

Even then, he was quickly introduced to the basics of competition psychology. While he easily ran a time of 10.16 seconds in Weinheim, he became one of the favorites at the U23 European Championships, crossing the finish line in 10.98. In order to develop this “confidence in the competition situation,” Engel and Hartmann spent time with Noah Lyles and Gina Lückenkemper’s training group in Florida. There, Hartmann was quickly able to keep up with sprinters who regularly run under ten and 20 seconds respectively: “That broke down a barrier for Joshua,” says Engel. Last year, Hartmann repeatedly secured starting places in the fast fields of the Diamond League. He performed convincingly, even qualifying for the final in Eugene over 100 meters (seventh place/10.30 seconds).

These races, says Engel, usually had one thing in common: Hartmann was an outsider. At the European Championships in Rome, expectations were higher again, and the urge to do particularly well was evidently higher too. In future, you have to “look for exactly the situations that are the most uncomfortable for him,” says Jannik Engel – like in Braunschweig, when Hartmann wants to start over 200 and 100 meters, as the favorite. “Only in these situations,” says Engel, “can you grow.” His calculation is the same as back then: staying power counts. Joshua Hartmann has been able to rely on his stamina so far.