Joshua Abuaku knows who Harald Schmid is: the man who has been the only man in the all-time list of the best German 400-meter hurdles since the weekend, ahead of the 26-year-old from Frankfurt by choice. Displacing him from there, taking the national record from the three-time European champion and Olympic bronze medalist from 1984 by undercutting the 47.48 seconds that Gelnhäuser ran in Athens in 1982 is one of the Eintracht athlete’s ambitious goals.
But this project is not in the foreground yet. This year, the Tokyo Olympic semifinalist is focusing on reaching the final in his World Championship debut in August and seeing the 47 before the comma for the first time in his career.
Abuaku’s current best time is just three days old. At the German Championships in Kassel, together with Constantin Preis, he ensured a heart-stopping final. The Hessian approached the task in the Auestadion with a lot of power and soon raced past his friend and competitor who had started in front of him. Abuaku was aware of his strength in the final phase, he still lacked stamina himself, “so I wanted to try it from the beginning,” he said.
“At 95 percent” arrived
The leader soon had to pay the price for the high initial pace, Preis closed in on the final straight and the two crossed the finish line side by side. “I still thought it should have been enough,” said Abuaku. In 48.45 seconds and with a new personal record basically at the same time, but he himself had the decisive tick, two thousandths ahead, was the result of the evaluation. For the winner, who improved his record from 2022 by a tenth of a second, in addition to the norm for the 2024 Olympic Games, which the duo broke together, this meant his first German championship title among the active athletes. “It wasn’t a perfect race yet,” summed up the winner and saw himself as “95 percent” of what was affordable.
The eternal comparison over 400 meters hurdles: Harald Schmid (centre) next to Edwin Moses: Image: dpa
Two weeks earlier, Abuaku had had to tremble for such an appearance. At the European Team Championships, he dropped out after the first hurdle because of a hardening of the thigh muscles. He didn’t take a break. “My coach always says: never do nothing,” explained Abuaku. After three or four days of just jogging, he was able to pick up the pace.
The trainer is Volker Beck, who was Olympic champion in 1980 over 400 meters hurdles – but at that time he benefited from the West’s boycott of the Olympics, which is why Harald Schmid and Edwin Moses were also missing world record holders – and, although already retired at 67, continues to support the German track and field athlete Association works at the base in Niederrad. Abuaku, who was born in Oberhausen, switched to the specialist in 2017 after the son of a Ghanaian and a German mother decided to try it as a full-time athlete under better conditions than at home. The athlete, who was noticed as a talent in a school run at the age of nine, received financial support from the Bundeswehr. Secured in this way, the silver medalist at the 2015 U-20 European Championships continued to develop step by step. The highlight of his career so far, in addition to taking part in the games in Tokyo, was his fifth place in the 2022 European Championship final.
The training group, in which former German champion and Olympic participant Luke Campbell practices, has a motivating effect. The secret of success is that although there are joint plans, Beck individualizes the programs at crucial points. “He knows our strengths and weaknesses very well,” says Abuaku.
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He doesn’t live for his sport alone. Last year he completed his bachelor’s degree at the German Sport University in Cologne. In his final thesis he wrote about the world ranking system, according to which starting places for major events are allocated. After the games in Paris, Abuaku wants to continue studying. His family is currently challenging him in addition to the train: After marrying his wife at the beginning of the year, daughter Liv was born on March 31st. In April it was not easy; meanwhile the new everyday life has leveled off. Abuaku is used to challenges. The fact that obstacles stand in his way more than running without them was quickly apparent to the former all-rounder. At first, the almost 1.90 meter tall athlete also tried his hand at sprinting. “But,” he explains, “the hurdles were too high for me.”