Sprint Relay Secures EM Silver Despite Owen Ansah's Absence; Women's Quartet Suffers Setback

The German sprinters clinched a silver medal in the 4x100m relay at the European Athletics Championships in Birmingham, cheered on by 'dedicated fan' Owen Ansah.

Even without the newly crowned 200m European champion, the DLV relay team, consisting of Kevin Kranz, Marvin Schulte, Heiko Gussmann, and Lucas Ansah-Peprah, finished in 38.64 seconds, only behind Great Britain (38.45). Belgium secured the bronze medal with a time of 38.70 seconds.

Two years prior, the German men had won bronze in Rome. The German women's team, however, failed to finish the heats earlier in the day due to a failed baton exchange to the anchor runner, Gina Lückenkemper.

Ansah kept his promise to support his teammates as a 'dedicated spectator,' as he put it. Due to a doping investigation surrounding the Hamburg-based athlete, who sprinted to gold in the 200m the previous evening, the German Athletics Federation decided not to field their fastest runner in the relay. Ansah faces a potential ban and the forfeiture of all results and achievements since July, which would also include any relay results in which he participated.

Women's Team Falters at Final Exchange, Misses Final

For the women's team, the dream of a medal was shattered during the final exchange in the heats. The baton handover attempt from Sophia Junk to anchor runner Lückenkemper went awry, effectively eliminating the DLV quartet from contention.

'The moment I wanted to give Gina the baton, I felt a pull in my left thigh,' said an inconsolable Junk to ZDF. 'I automatically jumped to the right. Because of that, I couldn't hand over the baton forcefully, and by then, it was too late.'

In 2024, in Rome, the sprint relay team had also missed out on a medal, finishing fourth. Germany was the European champion in 2022, and Rebekka Haase and Lückenkemper were part of that winning quartet and also competed in Birmingham.