European champion in decathlon
First self-doubt, then European title: After the afternoon nap, Niklas Kaul no longer believed in gold
Niklas Kaul celebrates his EM gold in the decathlon
© Ina Fassbender / AFP
Despite some self-doubts, Niklas Kaul became European champion in the decathlon. One of the secrets of his success lies in his family.
On the second day of the decathlon, Niklas Kaul had lost faith in European Championship gold. Even during the high jump, the man from Mainz thought there was no longer a chance of winning the title. “After the nap I said to myself: If the chance of gold is gone, I’ll at least do a show for all spectators in the last two disciplines,” said the 24-year-old world champion of 2019. With the javelin throw over 76.05 meters and a 1500 meter run in a best time of 4:10.04 minutes, Kaul still managed to win the title with 8545 points. “It’s the emotionally more important title for me,” he said in comparison to the World Cup triumph.
Sport seems to have been put into Kaul’s cradle. Kaul’s mother Stefanie was Austrian champion over 400 meters hurdles and 400 meters. Kaul’s father Michael was German champion over 400 meters hurdles. And his sister Emma also became German champion in the heptathlon in her age group W14. The siblings are coached by their parents.
Kaul opted for decathlon and against handball
As a teenager, Kaul also played handball until his decathlon training left him no time for any other sport. And the training paid off early: U18 World Champion, U20 World Champion, U20 European Champion, U23 European Champion and World Champion 2019 are just a few of his successes.
Immediately after graduating from high school, he began studying physics to become a teacher in Mainz. “I needed something besides sport to maintain a regular daily routine and to prepare myself optimally for the highlight of the season,” said Kaul according to leichathletik.de. But that didn’t stop him from later choosing sport as a second major.
Career break after world championship title
But after his surprise World Cup coup in Doha in 2019, where he won as the youngest decathlete in history, things were no longer going smoothly in his brilliant career up to that point. First he had to deal with a long-term shoulder injury and cope with the early retirement after an ankle injury in his foot at the 2021 Olympic Games in Tokyo.
The early exit in Japan is now his motivation for the 2024 Summer Games. “I just want to do better in Paris than in Tokyo,” said Kaul. “In Japan, we also experienced Olympic Games like never before, without spectators, without being able to watch other sports.” That’s why he wants to experience games in Paris as they actually are: “That makes the drive special. And of course I want to be able to deliver a best performance in Paris 2024 – then we’ll see what that’s enough for.”
Sources: DPA, Niklas Kaul on “leichtathletik.de”, Athletics Association Rheinhessen, SWR.de.