Decathlon world champion Neugebauer in strong contention at Götzis meeting

Leo Neugebauer, the reigning decathlon world champion, is strongly positioned for victory at the prestigious Götzis meeting in Austria. After the first day of competition, the 25-year-old German athlete secured second place with 4,632 points. He trails the leader, Switzerland's Simon Ehammer, by a narrow 130-point margin.

Neugebauer is performing significantly better than he did during his world championship title win last year, where he was in fourth place after the first day. Tokyo Olympic champion Damian Warner of Canada is currently in third place with 4,541 points. Former world champion Niklas Kaul is in 18th place, while Amadeus Gräber holds 13th.

In the heptathlon, Germany's Sophie Weißenberg had a solid first day in her comeback after a serious injury. She recorded a personal best of 23.25 seconds in the 200 meters, leading the German contingent. The Netherlands' Sofie Dokter leads the heptathlon after day one, with Vanessa Grimm in fourth and Weißenberg in sixth place.