German athletics got a new star overnight. The 22-year-old Swabian Leo Neugebauer improved Jürgen Hingsen's 39-year-old German record in the decathlon at the American Student Championships in Austin (Texas). With personal bests in five disciplines, he scored 8836 points – four more than Hingsen achieved in 1984.

Michael Reinsch

Correspondent for sports in Berlin.

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This makes the athlete from LG Leinfelden-Echterdingen, who has been awarded a scholarship from the University of Texas as an economics student since 2019, the strongest decathlete of the season and one stroke co-favorite for the World Championships in Budapest next August. Only eight athletes have scored more points than Neugebauer in the history of the decathlon.

"The most emotional moment of my life"

The power curve of the Swabian is incomparably steep. In March 2022, he had surpassed the 8000-point mark for the first time, and at the World Championships in Eugene (Oregon) in July he finished tenth with 8182 points. Previously, he had scored 8362 points. Eleven weeks ago, he increased his personal best to 8478 points, meeting the standard for the World Championships in Budapest and the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.

Neugebauer seemed completely overwhelmed by his performance during the winner's interview with the American Student Association: "I can't even realize it yet. I'm going to need a few days." He explained his unusual increase as follows: "I'm physically at my peak, I haven't had any injuries and no complaints for months." And then the venue in Austin, his training facility, inspired him: "It means the world to me that I was able to compete in front of my family, my friends, my training colleagues and my acquaintances."

And there he promptly succeeded in an almost perfect decathlon. In the 100 meters, he lowered his best mark (10.61) by more than two tenths of a second in 10.87 seconds, in the long jump he landed at 7.68 meters with a little too strong a tailwind, and he threw the ball 16.66 meters. After 2.04 meters in the high jump, he pulverized his 47-meter record with 08.400 seconds.

Previously, he had never run the course faster than 48.21 seconds. The second day was just as outstanding for him. He started with a wind-assisted 14.10 seconds over 110 meters hurdles. In the discus throw he managed 55.06 meters, then he crossed 5.21 meters in the pole vault. "That was the most emotional moment of my life for me. I never cry, but once I landed, I couldn't control myself. Because at that moment it was clear that I would win the competition."

Neugebauer was not thinking about the German record at that moment. He only came within reach when he had managed a distance of 57.45 meters in the javelin throw. An increase of more than four meters. "Until a week ago, it didn't work at all with the javelin, but suddenly it clicked in training, and I knew what I had to do," said Neugebauer. After 4:48.00 minutes over 1500 meters, it was finally clear: After 39 years, Jürgen Hingsen has lost his record.

The 1984 silver medalist in Los Angeles was informed about this by a journalist and initially suspected World and European Champion Niklas Kaul as the new record holder. The student from Texas, who surpassed Kaul's personal best by 145 points, was not on his radar. "Of course I'm really happy, but you're also a bit sad. I would have liked to crack the 40 years," said the 65-year-old Hingsen, not quite seriously. Neugebauer was first made aware by his coach that he had improved the German record. His reaction: "This makes me the greatest in history in the whole country. I still can't believe it."