With a performance explosion to 8836 points, Leo Neugebauer catapulted himself into the top decathlon world class. Now he is a challenger to European champion Niklas Kaul.
The 22-year-old decathlete Leo Neugebauer caused a surprise at the American College Championships in Austin/Texas. With 8836 points, he improved Jürgen Hingsen’s 39-year-old German record by four points and thus catapulted himself to eighth place in the all-time world best list in decathlon.
“I’m more than happy,” said Neugebauer, who finished tenth at the World Championships in Eugene/USA last year.
When the all-around athlete from LG Leinfelden-Echterdingen learned from his trainer that he had surpassed the record of former Olympic silver medalist Hingsen from June 8, 1984 with a series of personal bests, Neugebauer was even happier: “I’m the greatest with that all the time across the country. I can’t even begin to realize it.”
performance explosion
With this performance explosion, he has now become a competitor to ex-world champion and European champion Niklas Kaul at the World Championships in Athletics in August in Budapest. In 2021 he had a best performance of 7793 points, which he increased to 8362 points at the World Cup last year and was able to improve further to 8478 points in March. At Austin’s Mike A. Mayers Stadium – his training ground – six personal bests were the basis for the record performance. “It’s so crazy! I don’t know what to think,” Neugebauer wrote on Instagram.
“I’m very proud of Leo, and he can be very proud that he brought this great achievement together,” said decathlon national coach Christopher Hallmann, commenting on the college student’s coup, who thus met the standard for the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris . “This increase is extraordinary and the steep performance curve is definitely special. It has been seen more often that athletes improve significantly, “but such a significant increase is a new sphere”.
Nevertheless, Neugebauer does not see himself as having reached his limit. “I definitely still have potential,” he said in an interview with TV station Sport1. The national coach also believes he can score even higher, but does not want to make him a 9,000-point candidate. “I don’t want to put the burden on him just yet. Now he should celebrate and enjoy the performance he has achieved,” stressed Hallmann. “I don’t want to be too greedy now, but I wouldn’t prevent it if it happens in the next few years.”
Source: Stern
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