Decathlete Kaul fails to reach the top three.
Two years following his decathlon victory at the Munich Olympics, Niklas Kaul didn't bag a medal at the European Championship. The odds were against him on the second day, but Paris remains a promising possibility.
Decathlete Niklas Kaul gave up his European Championship title. After a competition filled with highs and lows, the Mainz athlete concluded his race in Rome with 8547 points, placing him in a disappointing fourth position, 59 points away from a medal. The newly-crowned European athlete was Estonia's Johannes Erm, with an impressive 8764 points. Sander Skotheim from Norway claimed silver with 8635 points, and French athlete Makenson Gletty won bronze with 8606 points.
"It was challenging, the days were really long. It was a physically demanding decathlon, and I'm happy I made it through - and maybe this was the best mediocre decathlon I've ever done. Despite some mistakes, there are other disciplines that genuinely motivate me, which were quite stable," stated Kaul to ARD. "I'm actually quite confident about Paris. Yes, I had some blunders, but there are still four disciplines I can focus on for improvement. I think we'll have accomplished a good point total by the time we reach Paris."
Kaul missed out on a medal primarily due to missteps in the high jump (1.96 m), the 400 m (48.81 seconds), and the 110 m hurdles (14.91 seconds). However, the former world champion amassed his third-best decathlon score of his whole career considering the points. Kaul's highest scores were at Doha in 2019 (8691) and Gothenburg in 2019 (8572). In the Munich EM three years prior, he possessed 85 points less than his current result.
Manuel Eitel (8212/Ulm) concluded seventh, Tim Nowak (8150/Ulm) placed ninth, and Felix Wolter (8051/Graefelfing) finished 13th. Leo Neugebauer, a Stuttgart athlete, was not present at the EM. Neugebauer improved the German record just a week before with a phenomenal 8961 points at the US college championships. The 23-year-old now ranks first in the world and is the favorite athlete for gold at the Paris Olympics.
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Despite his strong performance, Niklas Kaul's Athletics - ORDNER entry in the European Championships did not result in a medal, standing fourth with 8547 points. This year's Championships saw several impressive performances, with Johannes Erm from Estonia clinching the title with 8764 points, followed by Sander Skotheim from Norway with 8635 points and Makenson Gletty from France in third place with 8606 points.
