One thing he always notices about Leo Neugebauer, said Jim Garnham recently, the coach who has been shaping the German decathlete into a world-class athlete since 2020 at the college in Austin, Texas. Of course, Neugebauer could hide in his concentration when it was required. And when Neugebauer talked about the sports bag with its spikes that was stranded at Munich Airport during the week, he seemed downright angry. But otherwise? A smile, Garnham said, almost always and everywhere.
Even when Neugebauer had not yet landed on the mat during the pole vault in Budapest, he was already pointing in the direction of the audience, where his large fan club of around two dozen people were sitting, with drums, rattles and in black T-shirts, which felt like 48 degrees on the Saturday afternoon proved to be of limited advantage. He even fulfilled many fans’ requests for selfies in the stadium instead of waving them away (or simulating a conversation with his passport in Thomas Müller’s manner). “I try to always be myself,” said Neugebauer, the relaxed training atmosphere was part of a larger plan: “If I do it like in training, it will also be a top decathlon.”
It was quite a stress test that Neugebauer’s mind was subjected to during the two days of this decathlon at the World Athletics Championships. After day one, he was leading the rankings, even with 25 points more than his German record (8836 points), with which he catapulted himself into the consciousness of a larger public in Texas at the beginning of June. The flames of hope now received even more nourishment, especially since the German team stayed away from the medal table on the penultimate day. Only: Could fifth place and 8645 points in the final classification, the second best decathlon in Neugebauer’s vita, be interpreted as a serious disappointment after a roller coaster ride on the second day? In a field where it almost took another record to finish third behind Canadians Pierce Lepage (8909) and Damian Warner (8804)?
The first day initially had less Neugebauer’s cheerfulness, but strained his vocal cords. 10.69 seconds over 100 meters was the overture to a crashing sentence: Neugebauer jumped 8.00 meters into the long jump pit, hit the ball 17.04 meters, followed by shouts of joy, sprints for joy and dances. 2.02 meters in the high jump elicited at least a little dance from him, 47.99 seconds over 400 meters satisfied him, even if Neugebauer seemed a bit surprised that he had lost his strength earlier than expected.
Maybe that’s why he trimmed his half-time conclusion to British understatement. 4640 points, 30 more than the first pursuer Lepage, “you really can’t be dissatisfied”. On the other hand, his trainer had said before the competition that Neugebauer had often performed the eight or 17 meters in training, and so the German gave the impression on the first day that he was working off a to-do list in shift work. (Doha World Champion Niklas Kaul had just dropped out with a foot injury.)
On Saturday morning, the second day, the congregation seemed to sense that there was something special in the hot air. When the moderator singled out a German visitor in front of the stadium in Budapest, he said that of course he was hoping for Neugebauer’s triumph – unfortunately he was only able to get hold of tickets for the morning session. Would the moderator be able to find a few tickets for the decision in the evening? Unfortunately he couldn’t.
Most of the other decathletes would have been thrown out of the race in Neugebauer’s hurdle accident
And then, before the 110 meter hurdles and after the judges had warned Neugebauer after an aborted start, all of a sudden all self-confidence seemed to have escaped, like from a previously bulging balloon. He took the last steps before the first hurdle too long, kicked his foot full into the first fence, and when he was halfway caught, his foot collided with the second. Anyone who is about two meters tall and weighs more than 100 kilograms would probably have been thrown out of the race.
It was Neugebauer’s greatest triumph at that moment, finishing in 14.75 seconds, more than half a second slower than he had hoped. The shock of the discus throw, one of his great strengths on the second day, was still in his bones. Only in the last attempt did the disc flutter to 47.63 meters, more than seven meters less than in his record competition in Austin – 200 fixed points, simply evaporated.
Lepage turned towards the world championship title (50.98 meters), Warner, Lindon Victor from Grenada and Karel Tilga from Estonia made up ground. Now Neugebauer could hardly win the medals, there were two of his weakest disciplines – the others had to lose them.
5.10 meters with the baton was the first successful performance of the second day, but Warner (4.90) and Victor (4.80) hardly wasted any points. Neugebauer pushed another personal best in the javelin, 57.95 meters, he bounced through the interior to the stadium music. But soon the others pushed him out of the medal ranks again, with throws well over 60 meters. Neugebauer now had to distance Warner by eight or Victor by almost 13 seconds over the 1500 meters, and Tilga, the very brisk Estonian, came from behind. 4:43.39 minutes, that was the season best, but Victor was a bit faster, secured bronze with 8756 points including a national record, and Tilga (8681) also pushed past. (Manuel Eitel from SSV Ulm finished eleventh with 8191 points.)
In the end, Neugebauer probably felt the same way as the other fifth-placed colleagues in Budapest, such as walker Christopher Linke and high jumper Tobias Potye; or like shot putter Yemisi Ogunleye, who finished tenth with 18.97 meters: For all of them, the presence was good news, more or less close to the world’s best, but not so much for their association. Or in Neugebauer’s first words on the ARD microphone: “Fantastic. It was so much fun.”
Having fun, staying true to yourself, being world class at the same time also means that the really fun times are yet to come, at least for the 23-year-old in the service of the Texas “Longhorns”.