The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
Neugebauer leads Olympic Decathlon after first day of competition
08.02.2024 | Track & Field / Cross Country
Former Longhorn Leo Neugebauer's score of 4,650 points ranks as the fifth-best day one score in Olympic history.
PARIS, France – Recent University of Texas graduate and NCAA outdoor decathlon champion Leo Neugebauer leads the decathlon through five events at the Paris Olympic Games at the Stade de France Track. In addition, three former Longhorns advanced to the next round of their respective events.
Neugebauer, fresh off defending his NCAA Outdoor decathlon title, leads a stacked field of decathletes through five grueling events. Neugebauer of Germany began the day running the 100-meter dash in 10.67 seconds to score 935 points. He moved into second-place after his third-round jump of 7.98m in the long jump. He trailed only Damian Warner of Canada, the defending Olympic gold medalist, heading into the shot put.
Despite a big foul on his third attempt, Neugebauer's second-round throw of 16.55m finally moved him into the lead over Warner by 78 points. Neugebauer added a clearance of 2.05m in high jump for 850 points to complete his final field event of the day. He added his final 924 points in the 400m, after crossing the finish line in a season-best time of 47.70.
Neugebauer leads Ayden Owens-Delerme of Puerto Rico by 42 points and Sander Skotheim of Norway by 62 points.
Two-time defending shot put gold medalist Ryan Crouser needed just one throw to qualify for the shot put final. Crouser's throw of 21.49m was the fourth-best throw of the afternoon and earned him a spot in Saturday's final. Crouser owns both the world record (23.56m) and the Olympics Record (23.30m) heading into the final.
Julien Alfred made her Olympics debut in the women's 100-meter heats and won Heat 2 with her time of 10.95 (-0.8). The St. Lucian sprinter had the fifth-fastest time of the afternoon and is scheduled to run in Heat 2 of the semis against USA's Sha'Carri Richardson and Jamaica's Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce. Great Britain's Dina Asher-Smith, who trains with Texas head coach Edrick Floéal, also advanced to the semis with her time of 11.01 (+1.0).
Ackelia Smith of Jamaica was the final Longhorn to advance to the finals after she finished 10th in the triple jump qualifying round with her jump of 14.09m. She recorded two jumps over 14 meters in her Olympics debut.
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