Germany’s best decathlete triumphs in his adopted homeland with the second-best result of his career. In the “slipstream” of Leo Neugebauer, a European champion is working on his Olympic plan.
After the second best decathlon of his career, photos with Leo Neugebauer were in demand. A good four months before the Olympic Games in Paris, the German record holder was in brilliant shape when he won in his adopted hometown of Texas.
The 23-year-old won the Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays with 8,708 points and placed himself at the top of the still young world annual best list. “I’m very satisfied. I’m very pleased with the score and I’m already looking forward to the highlights,” said Neugebauer after a performance that makes you want to go to the Olympics.
Three weeks after the athlete, who competes for VfB Stuttgart, broke Frank Busemann’s German indoor record in the heptathlon, he was now on track to set his own German decathlon record at the competition in Austin. Last year, Neugebauer improved decathlon legend Jürgen Hingsen’s old mark to 8,836 points.
Neugebauer: “I’m happy”
This time he demonstrated his exceptional position with a best shot put performance of 17.26 meters, which did not surprise him. The model athlete described the other disciplines as “very solid”. “Everything was actually as I had hoped. That’s what it looks like in training, so I’m happy with the result,” Neugebauer told ZDF. “I’m in good physical shape and better than I was at this time last year. That’s all that matters to me at the moment.” Overall, it was the strongest result ever achieved so early in the season in March.
“Leo’s performance can be rated very highly. It’s a very high score,” said national coach Christopher Hallmann to the German Press Agency on Friday. “Being on the list as the best in the world for the year certainly gives you a lot of self-confidence. Even if there are two or three other decathletes ahead of him by the time of the Olympic Games, Leo will be one who can be at the forefront of the fight for the medals. He can now confidently shape the next stages towards Paris.”
No European Championship participation for Neugebauer
Hallmann watched the competition from a distance. “Leo is just coming out of the indoor season. Therefore, in terms of training methodology, this competition must be assessed as the last competition of the 2024 indoor season and not as the first competition of the 2024 outdoor season,” said the national coach. “The training methodological start of the outdoor season will take place at the beginning of June at the NCAA Championships.”
Neugebauer bought his ticket for the college and university competition on the night of Good Friday. This will take place from June 5th to 8th in Eugene, the 2022 World Cup venue. That’s why Neugebauer is missing from the European Championships in Rome from June 7th to 12th.
Kaul is “physically fine” after the World Cup was cancelled.
The European Championship, on the other hand, has set its sights on European champion Niklas Kaul. The 2019 world champion had to withdraw from the World Cup last year due to foot problems. “Physically he is doing well, he has no training restrictions,” reported Hallmann. “From a German perspective, he is in Leo’s slipstream. As the current European champion in 2022, he will start at the European Championships in Rome as defending champion at the beginning of June, then he should head towards the Olympic Games.” Kaul’s big goal: After his exit from the Tokyo Games due to injury, he wants to finish his Olympic decathlon in Paris – and do it successfully.
Neugebauer, who is one of Germany’s biggest athletics hopes for the Summer Games, also wants that. At the 2023 World Cup in Budapest, Neugebauer fell behind the medal ranks after leading at halftime and came fifth. Neugebauer certainly learned from the mistake in the pre-Olympic year for the Olympics, Busemann recently told the dpa. The student’s good start to the Olympic year is a “good sign for Paris”.
Source: Stern
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