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Götzis (dpa) - Decathlon world champion Niklas Kaul wants to qualify for the Olympic Games in Tokyo in the first attempt at the all-around meeting on May 29 and 30 in Götzis.
"I have not yet calculated any points, but I hope to create 8,400 to 8,500 points," said the 23-year-old athlete from USC Mainz on Wednesday at a digital press conference.
This would clearly meet the norm for the Tokyo Games from July 23rd to August 8th.
"My shape is better than before the 2019 World Cup in Doha."
For Kaul it will be the first decathlon in Austria in 19 months.
After an elbow operation at the beginning of the pandemic, he no longer had any complaints, not even when throwing a javelin: “The training performance looks like it.
I am convinced that in Götzis you will see great litters from me. "
Having won the World Cup, he does not feel under pressure with a view to the summer games.
"As a world champion, I have no bonus, I start from scratch like everyone else," emphasized Kaul.
For him, the French world record holder and Olympic runner-up in 2016, Kevin Mayer, is the “absolute favorite” in Tokyo.
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A total of ten German all-rounders, including Kaul, are expected at the meeting in Götzis, where 500 spectators are allowed.
Among them is the World Cup runner-up Carolina Schäfer (Eintracht Frankfurt), who trains with Kaul in Mainz.
Overall, the rush of athletes for a starting place is great because of the many unusual competitions in Götzis.
According to the organizers, there are 31 starting places in the decathlon and 30 in the heptathlon - but there is still a longer waiting list of possible successors.
© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210505-99-475402 / 2
Short portrait of Kaul on Leichtathletik.de