Sebastian Ernst
Sebastian Ernst is a German sprinter who specializes in the 200 metres. His personal best time is 20.36 seconds, achieved during the heats at the 2004 Summer Olympics – Men's 200 metres|2004 Summer Olympics]. This ranks him third among German 200m sprinters, only behind Tobias Unger and Frank Emmelmann. Ernst has represented the sports team TV Wattenscheid 01 and Schalke 04 domestically.
Biography
As a junior, he finished sixth at the 2002 [World Junior Championships in Athletics|2002 World Junior Championships]. The following year he took the 200 m title at the 2003 [European Athletics Junior Championships], as well as winning a silver medal in the relay. He made his senior international debut the following year at the 2004 IAAF World Indoor Championships, where he narrowly missed a spot in the 200 m finals. An Olympic debut came later that season for the nineteen-year-old and, after running a personal best of 20.36 seconds in the heats, he was eliminated in the semi-finals as the fastest non-qualifier.His 2005 season was highlighted by a 200 m and 4 × [100 metres relay] silver medal double at the 2005 European Athletics U23 Championships. He also made his first appearance at the World Championships in Athletics that year, but was eliminated in the quarter-finals. He began the following year by helping Germany to third in the Swedish medley relay at the 2006 European Athletics Indoor Cup. He claimed his first national title with a win at the German Athletics Championships and represented his country in the event at the 2006 European Athletics Championships, reaching the semi-finals. In the relay event, he finished fifth with teammates Alexander Kosenkow, Marius Broening and Ronny Ostwald.
He was the bronze medallist over 200 m at the 2010 European Team Championships but was runner-up to Daniel Schnelting at the 2010 German Athletics Championships the following month. He came close to a personal best in July, running 20.38 seconds in Mannheim, but faltered at the 2010 European Athletics Championships, coming last in his semi-final. He broke the German indoor record for the 200 m with a time of 20.42 seconds, which he achieved at the 2011 German [Indoor Athletics Championships].