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 (pronounced “noy-geh-bower”] 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 decent one. His final throw of the series was 188-6 (57.45) and worth 700 points. That was still the second-lowest of his point totals over the 10 events — Neugebauer scored 641 in the closing 1500 (4:48.00) — but also speaks to his trajectory in an event where he has had a recent breakthrough.
“With the javelin, it’s always my weak point,” Neugebauer said. “Literally a week and a half ago, I had a practice that was like… the practice before it was terrible.
“You know what? It doesn’t matter what I did in the past, I can change it like this [hand clap]. I just have to be awake, be in the moment, listen to my coach and all of a sudden they flew, one after another. Now I have a feeling for the javelin.
“Here I put in all my technique, tried to stay cool, did what my coach said. I just put a little more effort in it and it kept flying further.”
By that point, Neugebauer had Jürgen Hingsen’s German Record and Garland’s Collegiate Record on the horizon and he knew it.
“I had to be very careful. I wanted to break into tears before the 1500,” he said. “I had to keep my cool, distract myself, listen to music because I had so much time [from the discus on the schedule had been set back by a lightning delay]. I stayed cool and I pulled through. It feels so great being done.”
He wasn’t done name checking. When asked his knowledge of Germany’s decathlon history and the greatness of Hingsen, Neugebauer revealed he had read an article on the man whose record he was chasing.
“I just read before my competition, an article about one of the greatest decathletes in Germany,” Neugebauer said. “I was reading that, going though his mindset, and I was like, ‘That’s exactly how I felt.’ I’m familiar with the [German decathlon] culture.”
As for that particular national record, “That makes me the greatest of all time in a whole country,” said Neugebauer, giving every indication he grasped how big the moment was. “I can’t even realize it yet, I’ll need a couple of days to realize what I achieved.”
He was also ecstatic to get congratulated by his Longhorn predecessor Trey Hardee, himself the ’05 NCAA champion and in his pro career a 2-time WC gold medalist.
“That means the world to me,” Neugebauer said. “Trey Hardee has been the guy I’ve been looking up to since I’ve been here. He’s been the man at this university. Having him around me, the energy, the vibe, makes me want to be better. Having him supporting me, it’s the greatest feeling in the world.”
Then Neugebauer peeked ahead to Worlds, where suddenly he has put himself in middle of the medal picture. He is now this year’s world leader by 136 points.
“Especially because the way my body is right now, I’m at my peak,” Neugebauer said. “I have no injuries, I feel strong. I’m going to keep doing what I’ve been doing.
“I don’t know what’s going to happen in Budapest but it’s going to be crazy.”
It was crazy in Austin too on a week when Neugebauer transformed from the chaser to the standard-setter. ◻︎