After Leo Neugebauer’s German record in the USA, the spotlight is now on European decathlon champion Niklas Kaul. The 26-year-old has big goals for the European Championships in Rome – and not only that.
European decathlon champion Niklas Kaul expects a better year for German athletics after the World Championships’ zero result – even if not all problems will be solved in the Olympic season.
“We shouldn’t kid ourselves. It’s not like we can travel to Paris with the goal of winning 15 medals there. But I think the balance will look better than after the World Championships in Budapest,” Kaul told the German Press Agency. After the German record set by his decathlon colleague Leo Neugebauer in the USA, Kaul will be in the spotlight at the European Championships in Rome on Monday.
High importance not only because of title defense
Kaul, who describes the fascination of his sport in his book “The Magic of the Decathlon” published this month, is defending his title at the European Championships in Rome. “The importance of the European Championships is very high for me – not only because I am competing as the defending champion,” said the 26-year-old from USC Mainz.
There was no German medal in Budapest. Kaul had ended his decathlon prematurely due to an injury. Overall, there were many dropouts, but this time the team was less plagued by bad luck with injuries, said Kaul.
“A fundamental problem remains”
“But all the problems will not suddenly disappear after this season. A fundamental problem remains that we are not managing to get more promising talents into competitive sport after school. But this is not just a problem in athletics, but in German sport as a whole,” said the student.
The highlight of the season for the two-time “Sportsman of the Year” is the Olympic Games in Paris in August. “Of course I would love to win one of the three medals. But I have to give my best performance to do that, otherwise I might give up. But I’m not thinking about the Olympics yet, because the European Championships are coming up first. That’s the first big goal towards Paris,” said Kaul.
Paris will not be the last Summer Games for the 2019 world champion. “I would like to be at the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. I will be 30 years old then – that’s perfect,” said Kaul.
Source: Stern
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