Former world champion Niklas Kaul is on course for gold in the decathlon at the home European Championships in Munich and is aiming for 8700 points.
The 24-year-old got off to a strong start with a personal best of 11.16 seconds, added a good 7.10 m in the long jump and managed 14.90 m with the ball.
Only in the high jump did Kaul suffer a first setback of 2.02 m, over the 400 m he ran a new best time of 47.87 seconds. With 4184 points, Kaul is initially seventh, but he has his strengths on the second day.
“I can go to sleep satisfied,” said Kaul on “ZDF”: “Now it’s about who will make the most mistakes tomorrow.”
After the injury-related retirement of world record holder and world champion Kevin Mayer (France), Kaul is now the favorite for the title. Mayer had to give up after the 100 m with muscle problems. “See you next year,” Mayer said. Already four years ago in Berlin he missed the title that was believed to be safe because of three invalid attempts in the long jump.
Ehammer clearly in the lead
The Swiss Simon Ehammer is currently clearly in the lead with 4661 points, but he sometimes fell short of his potential.
Defending champion Arthur Abele, who ends his career in Munich, is 18th (3851 points), Kai Kazmirek is eighth (4155). Tim Nowak did not compete in the 400 m due to circulatory problems. Three years ago in Doha, Kaul became the youngest world champion in history with 8691 points.
Only Mayer was ahead of Kaul in the entry list, who finished sixth at the World Championships in Eugene three weeks ago with 8434 points. “That was the dress rehearsal, it went so-so,” said Kaul in advance: “I don’t have a European Championship medal yet.”