World Championships in Athletics
Track and field athletes failed trend reversal – zero number at World Cup
The German women’s 4×100 m relay. photo
© Marcus Brandt/dpa
After only two World Cup medals in 2022, the track and field athletes’ yield continues to fall. The team around decathlete Neugebauer has fresh hope. However, the task for 2028 will be more difficult than expected.
Achievements that European Champion Lückenkemper says are “worthy of every honor” are far from sufficient for medals at world championships. Some of the world leaders are far removed, the trend reversal after last year’s World Cup sadness from Eugene failed to materialize.
“Lost connection to the top of the world”
“We didn’t come here to go home empty-handed,” said association president Jürgen Kessing before the final section on the “worst case” – the worst case – a zero number. There has never been a World Cup without a German medal. Sports director Jörg Bügner did not want to adjust the ambitious goal of being among the top 5 in the world again by 2028. A year before the Olympics in Paris, however, the worried impression remains that we will no longer be able to catch up.
“We have found that we have lost touch with the world leaders in many disciplines,” said Bügner. The world leaders have developed significantly. “We have a greater distance to cover and we have to work harder.”
Eleven top 8 finishes were four more than at last year’s World Cup in the USA. But there was gold from the long jump Olympic champion Malaika Mihambo, who was missing this time due to injury, and bronze from the sprint relay – and medals are crucial for the reputation. If mihambo, decathletes or discus throwers don’t deliver, things look bleak. An exciting EM summer fairy tale like last year’s does not gloss over the meager World Cup yield this time.
Neugebauer feels fantastic even without a medal
“We again had performances that would have been enough for a medal in previous years,” said team captain Lückenkemper. “This extreme performance development in some disciplines – the sport is constantly evolving, be it through shoes or through training science. That’s a development that we’re currently noticing, of course.” Four fifth places for the team came closest to the podium before the final act on Sunday.
German record holder Neugebauer, who was on course for gold at half-time but then fell back to fifth, felt “fantastic” after the second-best decathlon of his life even without a medal. “The competition taught me a lot about myself,” he said on Sunday about the “rehearsal” for Paris. “Better that it happens now than next year at the Olympics.”
The 23-year-old, who studied in the USA and had an impressive performance development outside of the association measures at a university with great financial possibilities, set the motto for Paris. “If I stay healthy, there is no limit,” he said on the day of the World Cup gold of Canadian Pierce Lepage, the new king of athletes. European champion and ex-world champion Niklas Kaul dropped out of the decathlon early due to a foot injury. He didn’t “want to throw away the preparation for the Olympics,” said the 25-year-old. Kaul was amazed at the number of points that would have been necessary for a medal.
Noah Lyles in the footsteps of Usain Bolt
Other performances also caused a stir on the sizzling Saturday evening. US star Noah Lyles (26) made his golden sprint triple perfect with the relay success and underlined his ambitions to chase the times of full-speed legend Usain Bolt. Pole vaulter Armand “Mondo” Duplantis already has his own chapter in athletics history. As expected, the 23-year-old Swede won easily. He broke the world record height of 6.23 meters only very narrowly, frenetically cheered on by the enthusiastic audience every day. And the two-time Olympic champion Faith Kipyegon from Kenya, who spoke of her five-year-old daughter’s motivation, is also in a league of her own.
The DLV cited eight personal bests and eight season bests as well as two German records by experienced walker Christopher Linke (34) as positive points. But some athletes want more. Joshua Abuaku was the first hurdler over 400 meters to reach the final with the best time since Harald Schmid 36 years ago. U23 European champion Olivia Gürth (21) was happy about a best time and the final over 3000 meters obstacle at her World Cup debut. But there were also frustrating experiences such as a gambled 200-meter semi-final by Joshua Hartmann, a lost baton or a fall by 5000-meter runner Sam Parsons in the heat.
After eleventh place in the World Championship debut, decathlete Manuel Eitel specified what can apply to many in the team. “For me it was definitely a competition to learn and grow,” said the 26-year-old.