Neugebauer smashes NCAA decathlon record, aims for Olympic gold
6/13/2024, 6 p.m.
With his chiseled 6-foot-7, 240-pound physique, Leo Neugebauer looks like he could be a basketball power forward, football tight end or even heavyweight boxing champ.
Instead, the 23-year-old excels at the decathlon, a 10-event, two-day grind that challenges every muscle in the body.
Born in Stuttgart, Germany, to a German mother and Cameroonian father, the University of Texas graduate recently repeated as NCAA decathlon champion in Eugene and has his sights set on the Paris Olympics and a gold medal.
In Eugene, Neugebauer set an NCAA decathlon record with 8,961 points, breaking his own mark of 8,836 from a year ago. His 8,961 ranks sixth-highest worldwide.
Bruce Jenner won the 1976 Olympic decathlon with 8,616 points.
At Eugene, Mississippi State’s Peyton Bair was second at 8,131. The world record of 9,126 was set by Frenchman Kevin Mayer in 2016.
As of June 4, he ranked third internationally behind Canadians Pierce Lepage and 2020 Olympic champ Damian Warner.