IN THE AFTERMATH of the greatest moment of his athletic life, an 8836-point CR decathlon that turned the NCAA’s event-closing 1500 into a victory parade, Texas’ Leo Neugebauer said he would need a few days to digest his feat.
That was the only time all week Neugebauer (the first syllable of his last name is pronounced as “noy”] was less than convincing.
Everything else the senior said in the aftermath of his dramatic breakout, when he became the No. 8 performer of all-time, indicated he fully understood the magnitude of what he accomplished. The 22-year-old German (23 on June 19) is on a mountaintop right now, very much enjoying the view and understanding what it means.
“It feels amazing,” Neugebauer said, gushing throughout his quick post-record interviews. “I knew to win this meet it was going to take a Collegiate Record, me or Kyle [Garland, the Georgia senior, former CR holder and the pre-meet favorite]. I’m in top form. To beat me right now you need a record. I did it. I’m more than happy, especially in Austin.”
What had been shaping up to be a compelling duel with the defending champion Garland turned into a celebration of Neugebauer, who finished the first day 52 points behind Garland, but essentially tied on projections.
When he opened Day 2 with a big 110H and big discus, he was in position to put it away in the vault. He did with the third of four second-day PRs, the sixth of seven overall, going 17-1 (5.21) and effectively turning that the drama into just how high his record was going to be.
That also belied Neugebauer’s assertion that he needed some time to soak everything in. He was soaking in his own tears.
“The pole vault was the most emotional moment of my life,” he said. “I never cry, I never cry. When I cleared the 5.21 bar I ran away because I couldn’t control my body. I just wanted to take off.
“There was a tear or two involved. I was surprised I cried because I’ve never done that, that shows how much it meant to me.”
It also drove him to some colorful language.
“I knew once I cleared that bar I was going to win, Kyle couldn’t beat me,” Neugebauer said. “It was ‘Holy shit, I did it.’”
His next challenge was to control and direct all that emotion. In this case, Neugebauer channeled it into three consecutive PRs in the javelin, which in a short time has gone from his worst event to a…
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