Decathlon shooting star Leo Neugebauer excelled in the long jump and is second after two disciplines at the World Championships in Budapest. European Champion Niklas Kaul is apparently a bit stricken.
Neugebauer jumped along the pit like a pinball. 8.00 m – personal best! Already in the first attempt he had increased to 7.60 m. Nobody got any further in the second discipline of the first day. The 23-year-old, who is in excellent shape, is currently second in the overall standings with 1,992 points behind Canadian Olympic champion Damian Warner (2020).
Kaul jumped to an acceptable 7.16 m, but had planned to do more. The man from Mainz, 23rd with 1,663 points, limped after his third attempt and complained of hip problems. World Championship debutant Manuel Eitel recorded 7.14 m and is 13th with 1,836 points.
Neugebauer ran 10.69 seconds at the start over 100 m and was thus close to his personal best time (10.61), while Kaul achieved a season best of 11.20 seconds. Both are among the German medal candidates in Budapest. Eitel was third with 10.44 seconds.
While Neugebauer, who studies and trains in the USA, is particularly strong on the first day, Kaul always starts catching up on the second day. His experience speaks for title collector Kaul, for the German record holder Neugebauer his carelessness. It continues with the shot put (in the live ticker at sportschau.de).
With his national record of 8,836 points, Neugebauer is at the top of the world annual best list, Kaul is number ninth with his 8,484 points from Ratingen. The German trio is completed by Eitel, fourth in the Indoor European Championships, who scored 8,351 points in Götzis in May.
Neugebauer still sees room for improvement
With his coup in his own stadium in Austin/Texas at the beginning of June, with which he catapulted himself to eighth place in the all-time world best list in the supreme discipline, Neugebauer set personal bests over 100 m and 400 m as well as in pole vault, long jump, discus and javelin throw and broke Jürgen Hingsen’s 39-year-old German decathlon record. The competition showed him how much he still had, said the 23-year-old, who has his own YouTube channel: “Simply because it wasn’t a perfect decathlon.”
After eight disciplines, Neugebauer was even the best all-around fighter of all time in his best competition to date. In the javelin throw and over 1,500 m, Kaul, the 2019 world champion in Doha, could snag over 600 points from him.
The competition is strong
The 25-year-old title collector is always a contender for a top ranking. However, the challenge will not be easy for either of them. Eight decathletes have already surpassed the 8,500 point mark this season.
Mayer has Achilles tendon problems and, as is so often the case, has not competed. The Frenchman sees the probability of completing the decathlon as less than 50 percent. The second day on Saturday is live from 10.05 a.m. on the first and on sportschau.de.