European Championship
“It’s nice to be a hunter”: Decathlete Kaul wants a medal at the European Championships
Niklas Kaul (r) and the Swiss Simon Ehammer are the gold favorites in the decathlon. photo
© Soeren Stache/dpa
Niklas Kaul can dream of his first European Championship medal in the decathlon. At half-time he had collected 4185 points, which are a good basis for fighting his way up (to the very front) on Tuesday.
Ex-world champion Niklas Kaul’s specialty is catching up in the decathlon.
“It’s nice to be the hunter from now on,” said the 24-year-old from Mainz, who collected 4185 points at the European Championships in Munich on the first day of competition and was seventh at half-time – with a great chance of a medal and even the title . “Now let’s see what happens,” he said, not dissatisfied after the first five disciplines.
The intermediate score even feeds his confidence in a new personal best. In his World Cup triumph in Doha in 2019, he had fought for 8691 points and had 4184 points halfway through. His biggest rival in the fight for the title is the Swiss Simon Ehammer, who is clearly in the lead with 4661 points. “We both did what we can. He’s the man of the first day,” said Kaul, who knows his strengths on day two. The javelin throw in particular is his favorite discipline.
Best performances in the sprint
On the first day, however, he achieved personal bests over 100 meters in 11.16 seconds and over 400 meters in 47.87 seconds. “I was completely exhausted at 200 meters,” he said, amazed that he had still finished so quickly.
In the high jump, Kaul refrained from raising the bar even higher after jumping 2.02 meters in order not to overstrain his last injured foot. “I’d rather do ten disciplines with the background and not just four good ones,” he explained the precautionary measure. At the 2021 Olympic Games in Tokyo, he had to retire after a foot injury.
In Munich he could benefit from the early retirement of world champion and world record holder Kevin Mayer, who had to abandon the fight for the title after the first discipline. The Frenchman dropped out after the 100m to avoid aggravating an injury. At the 2019 World Cup in Qatar, Mayer had to give up injured after the first day of competition and paved the way for Kaul to win gold at the World Cup.