Emil Agyekum breaks German 400m hurdles record after 44 years

For Emil Agyekum, the move to Frankfurt to train under Olympic champion Volker Beck is paying off. After the 27-year-old broke Harald Schmid's nearly 44-year-old German record, he now has an even bigger goal in sight.

Volker Beck had a premonition. Years ago, the Olympic champion over 400 meters hurdles prophesied that "his Emil" would one day improve the German record in his former signature discipline. Emil Agyekum — born and raised in Berlin, the son of a Ghanaian mother and a German father — was the athlete Beck had in mind.

When Beck spoke with Agyekum's family four years ago to bring the young athlete from Berlin to Frankfurt and into his training group, he assured them that Agyekum would one day become the fastest long hurdler in the country. That prophecy has now come true.

By three hundredths of a second, the now 27-year-old Emil Agyekum dipped under the nearly 44-year-old best time of 47.48 seconds at the Diamond League meeting in London last week — a time that had crowned Harald Schmid's gold medal run on September 8, 1982, at the European Championships in Athens. With this world-class performance, the oldest national best mark in a running discipline was also erased.

Beck's reaction after the memorable race was typical of the composed national coach, who will bid farewell to the German Athletics Association after the Continental Championships in August in Birmingham. Without falling into euphoria, the 70-year-old told WELT AM SONNTAG:

"It naturally does one's own credibility good when predictions come true. I am incredibly happy for Emil and his family."

Beck: "That Speaks for Him and His Iron Ambition"

Beck recognized Agyekum's potential early on. The young athlete ran the stadium lap with ten hurdles for the first time as a 15-year-old, and Beck supervised him in training camps.

"I realized very quickly that Emil is a great talent," Beck says.

However, to turn that talent into athletic performance that attracts attention, a change of training location was necessary.

"That Emil accepted this challenge speaks for him and his iron ambition," Beck emphasizes.

Those who do not go where the competition is greatest will never reach world-class level — this is a maxim of the graduate sports scientist, whose showcase athletes also included Nils Schumann, Olympic champion in 2000 in Sydney over 800 meters. Beck is convinced that athletes only reach the top through daily competition with the best and competition-oriented training.

As a top runner from the GDR, the native Thuringian lived by his principles, which allowed him to win Olympic gold on his successful distance as the only German in 1980. Three years earlier, at the European Cup victory in Helsinki, Beck was the first German to run under 49 seconds (48.90). In five explosive duels with his West German arch-rival Harald Schmid, he was faster three times. Today, they are connected in friendship.

For Agyekum, the move meant leaving his comfort zone in Berlin to measure himself against the strongest performers in the country in every training unit from then on.