Emil Agyekum narrows gap to Harald Schmid’s German 400m hurdles record in Budapest

Berlin‑born hurdler Emil Agyekum ran 47.58 seconds to win the 400 m hurdles at a meeting in Budapest, coming within one‑tenth of a second of Harald Schmid’s longstanding German record of 47.48 seconds set in 1982 and matched again in 1987. The 27‑year‑old posted his fourth sub‑48‑second performance and improved his personal best by 0.14 seconds.

In the same competition, hammer‑thrower Merlin Hummel of Eintracht Frankfurt recorded a throw of 81.74 m, the second‑best distance of his career. The only longer throw mentioned was by Canadian world champion Ethan Katzberg, whose best in the event exceeded 83.64 m.