Berlin (dpa) – After his injury at the Olympic Games last year, decathlon world champion Niklas Kaul sees himself on the right track towards the European Championships at home.
The 24-year-old from Mainz wants to contest his first decathlon of the season at the all-around meeting in Ratingen on May 7th and 8th. Two highlights followed in the summer with the World Championships in Eugene in the USA and the European Championships in Munich.
“From Ratingen to the World Cup, I planned a long preparation period to fight for a medal at the European Championships three and a half weeks after the World Cup,” explained Kaul in an interview with “Sports Illustrated” published on Thursday. The World Cup is the higher-quality competition, Kaul stated. “But there is a European Championship at home in Munich, so this competition is already the highlight of the season. That’s why Munich is the big goal for me.”
During the high jump at the Olympics in Tokyo, the youngest world champion in decathlon history suffered a bruised ankle and had to retire. But the injury has completely healed. At the training camp in South Africa, the long runs were fine, he explained. There are still a few subtleties missing in discus throwing, but overall the feeling is good. “I’ll see the other things when we’re slowly getting back out into the stadium. Then I’ll work on the technical details,” explained Kaul.
The expectations of him meanwhile don’t matter to him after he didn’t win a medal at the Olympics as world champion. “There’s no more pressure. I know now that I’m doing it all for myself,” said Kaul. His big goal is to fulfill his dream of an Olympic medal in Paris in two years.