German decathlete Niklas Kaul is upbeat in his return to Tokyo for the world championships, four years after he dropped out of the Olympic competition there and was taken away in a wheelchair.
Former world and European champion Kaul said he was no longer dwelling on the ankle injury that forced him to drop out mid-competition.
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“It is not that I am saying I am back at the place where it somehow didn’t work out at the Olympics due to injury. That plays no more role in my mind,” he said.
“I am looking forward to the competition. I am looking forward to the stadium, it is really one of the nicest stadiums to have such a competition.”
While the Olympics took place amid many restrictions due to the coronavirus pandemic, the situation is “very different because I have seen a bit of the city” this time around, Kaul said.
Now 27, Kaul won a surprise world title in 2019 and was a European champion in 2022. He had to withdraw during the 2023 worlds competition while last year he was fourth at the Euros and eighth at the Olympics.
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Together with Olympic silver medallist Leo Neugebauer he is a medal contender at the two-day event in Tokyo on Saturday and Sunday, with Till Steinforth completing the German trio.
“I think we can achieve something good in the decathlon. I am really looking forward to competing with the two. Cool guys, it will be fun,” German record holder Neugebauer said.
Olympic champion Markus Rooth is absent for injury reasons but the competition still has a Norwegian favourite in season leader Sander Skotheim who managed 8,909 points in Götzis, where Kaul came close to his personal best 8,691 with a tally of 8,575.
Neugebauer, for his part, expects to be more relaxed than at last year’s Olympics which marked his debut on the big stage.
“I had more pressure in Paris because it was my first big chance to medal and because it was the Olympics,” he said.
