By Steve Keating
DOHA (Reuters) – Germany’s Niklas Kaul survived a grueling final day to win the world championship decathlon gold on Thursday after the event was blown wide open by a competition-ending injury to defending champion Kevin Mayer.
Even with French world record holder Mayer out of the way, it was far from smooth sailing for Kaul on a rollercoaster day that saw a different name at the top the leaderboard after each of the five events.
But 21-year-old Kaul triumphed at the end, winning the final event, the 1,500 meters, to record a score of 8,691 points and become the youngest ever world decathlon champion.
Estonia’s Maicel Uibo took silver with 8,604, crossing the line in second place just as his wife Shaunae Miller-Uibo of the bahamas did an hour earlier in the 400 meters final.
Gold continued to elude Canada’s Damian Warner, who had to settle for third on 8,529, leaving him to adorn a trophy cabinet already full of bronze and silver medals, including third place at the Rio Olympics and second and third finishes at the worlds.
(Editing by Ken Ferris)
