Niklas Kaul surprises in Götzis: Third place at the anniversary meeting!

Niklas Kaul surprises in Götzis: Third place at the anniversary meeting!

At the anniversary meeting of the decathlon in Götzis, athletics experienced an exciting competition on June 1, 2025. The ex-world champion niklas Kaul secured with 8,575 points with the Swiss Simon Ehammer. The victory went to the Norwegian Sander Skotheim, who secured a place among the best decathlon in history with 8,909 points. In his impressive performance, Skotheim celebrated one day after his 23rd birthday.

Kaul, the youngest decathlon world champion in history, who won the gold medal in 2019 in Doha at the age of 21, showed the best first day of his career in Götzis. With 4,257 points, he exceeded his level of Doha by almost 100 points, reached a new best over 100 meters and won the 1500-meter run in 4: 16.41 minutes. Unfortunately, he could not build in the pole vault and got stuck at 4.80 meters. The German record holder Leo Neugebauer Fifth place with 8,555 points and also fulfilled the World Cup standard.

The most important places and performances

The meeting that focused on the 50th edition presented a strong field of participants. It was therefore no wonder that the atmosphere for the athletes, as described by Neugebauer, was extremely motivating. The last German winner in Götzis was Kai Kazmirek in 2015.

career and planning for the future

The highlight of the athletics season follows the meeting, the World Championships, which will take place in Tokyo from September 13th to 21st. Kaul, now 27 years old, has set himself the goal of surpassing his personal best of 8,691 points, which he reached in Doha in 2019. His good shape in Götzis suggests that he is on a promising path.

There were also historical achievements for women. Anna Hall from the United States reached a new milestone in the heptathlon with 7,032 points, which makes her the fifth athlete who was able to cross the 7,000-point mark. This performance is only exceeded by Jackie Joyner-Kersee with 7,291 points.

The decathlon, which consists of ten individual competitions, is considered the royal discipline of athletics. wikipedia explains that this format requires a variety of skills because the disciplines are carried out within two days. The points ranking is based on a defined table that is oriented towards world records and regularly adapted.

The exciting developments in Götzis show not only the athletic achievements of the participants, but also the anticipation for the upcoming international competitions. The World Championships in Tokyo will be another highlight in the season and it remains to be seen who will prevail there.