The German decathletes are aiming for a medal at the Olympic Games. Leo Neugebauer is on target after the opening race. Niklas Kaul gets off to a good start. A 22-year-old is particularly fast.
Gold favorite Leo Neugebauer has made a promising start to the Olympic decathlon. The 24-year-old finished the opening 100 meters in 10.67 seconds. The world best of the year was only six hundredths of a second above his personal best. In his German record in Eugene at the beginning of June, Neugebauer sprinted in 10.64 seconds.
Kaul with a decent start
Former world and European champion Niklas Kaul set his season’s best of 11.34 seconds. The 26-year-old’s strengths are on the second day. Kaul is one of the extended circle of medal candidates. As number 1 in the world, Neugebauer is the top candidate for gold. At the World Championships a year ago in Budapest, Neugebauer had fallen back to fifth place at halftime after first place.
Till Steinforth was the third German starter to cross the finish line after 10.52 seconds, remaining eleven hundredths of a second above his personal best. The 22-year-old all-rounder from SV Halle replaced Manuel Eitel, who was unable to compete at short notice. Eitel had to cancel due to a corona infection. The best after the first discipline is the Canadian Damian Warner. The Tokyo Olympic champion ran 10.25 seconds.
Sad Mayer not at the start
Decathlon world record holder Kevin Mayer will not be able to take part in the wrestling spectacle in his native France. After a fitness test on Thursday, he had to withdraw due to the effects of a thigh injury.
Mayer won the world title in the decathlon in 2017 and 2022 and set his world record in 2018 with 9126 points. This year, he was unable to break the 8500 point mark due to injury problems. Most recently, world champion Pierce LePage from Canada had to cancel his participation in the Olympics.
Source: Stern
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