“I feel fantastic,” Leo Newgeber on Sunday told the crowd on the PA system at the National Stadium in Tokyo. Shortly before, German Dicthlets pulled Himola on the Finnish line in the final incident of Decathalon at a distance of 1,500 meters. He stagged through the last few meters before falling to the ground as New World Decathalon Champion.
What tired Neugebauer that he accepted the offer to take a seat in the wheelchair. However, he soon stood on the podium to receive a gold medal, fulfilling a long -held dream.
‘roller coaster ride’
It was the first 25 -year -old title, and it could be a year after winning the Olympic silver at the Paris Games.
“I can sincerely say that this season is a rollercaster ride; I did not expect to win gold. I am happy,” Newgbair told the German public television.
The path of this success was actually a bumpy. At the German Championships in Dresden in early August, Newgeber competed in only six subjects to focus on their technology. At a meeting of a prominent dichelon in Gotzis, Austria in June, he only finished fifth.
After last year’s Olympic silver, Newsbair had to learn to deal with the pressure and pressure on the media – something he said that the season was “very busy” this season, with a very short time to relax.
There was a lot of doubt on whether he would be in time for the World Athletics Championship. The spear was giving him special problems – but he defeated Thema on time for Tokyo.
Neugebauer was not a favorite for the title, but what is the top form in Japan, a German record holder. With a spectacular performance in discus throw (56.15 m) and, for him, very strong results in spear (64.34 m) and in 1,500 m (4: 31.89 minutes), he pulled away.
Finally, a German gold medal
Newgbire scored only 20 points on Puerto Rico’s silver medalist Iden Owens-Dalme-Most hesitant margin of victory in the history of Decathalon at the Championships. USA’s Kyle Garland secured bronze, while another German, 2019 champion Nicklas Kaul, finished fourth.
Thus, Newgeber gave Germany its first and only gold medal on the last day of the World Championship, as well as the third best decathlon performance of its career.
Benefits from American college sports system
The rise of a newsbire to join the world’s elite class in the game is not a small part of their move in the United States. Stutgart natives have been studying and training at the University of Texas at Austin for many years. There, he to give an opportunity to experience the coaching team with state -of -the -art training facilities and to combine his studies with Elite College competition.
“I wanted to develop myself both athletic and individually,” Newgbire once said that when asked about his decision to go to the United States.
In Austin, he not only made great progress, but also learned to handle pressure and competition at the highest level. Competition at the college level made him hardening – and made him a world champion.
Error-rivals
After Kaul and Torsten Vaus, who is gold for East Germany in Rome in 1987, newsbire is only the third world Decathalon Champion from Germany. Neugebauer’s misfortune of his top rival, what helped Norway’s Sander Skothim’s unfortunate.
Skothem, who arrived in Japan as the world’s number 1, stumbled on obstacles at the beginning of the second day of the competition, then knocked on a barrier with his hands – and thus disqualified.
Many of the other contenders had their own struggles – including Newgebair, who complained of knee problems at the end of the first day of the competition.
However, his perseverance and his mentality of taking “a discipline at a time” was finally rewarded, as it was Newgebair that managed to limit his errors best.
Still 28 for 2028 Games
What could be ahead for Neugebauer after winning the World Championship Gold and Olympic silver?
“I don’t know,” Heer said loudly.
“I can contact the upcoming season with a comfortable attitude because I have already achieved much, and I am looking real.”
The next clear target is to have Olympic gold in the game of Los Angeles in 2028. By then, he will still be just 28 – a major age for a decathlet.
This article was the original published in German.