Niklas Kaul’s world U20 decathlon record of 8435 has been ratified, following validation of the post-event surveys that had to be undertaken at Grosseto’s Carlo Zecchini Stadium.

The German all-rounder achieved his record mark on 23 July 2017 at the European U20 Championships in Grosseto, where he started his decathlon with marks of 11.48 in the 100m, 7.20m in the long jump, 15.37m in the shot put, 2.05m in the high jump and 48.42 in the 400m.

His day-one tally of 4170 put him in third place at the end of the first day behind Estonia’s Johannes Erm and France’s Ludovic Besson, but Kaul had some strong events to come on day two.

His second day started with 14.55 in the 110m hurdles and he followed it with 48.49m in the discus. After a 4.70m clearance in the pole vault, he moved to within 16 points of Erm, but a mighty effort of 68.05m in the javelin propelled Kaul into pole position. He ended his competition with a 4:15.52 PB in the 1500m, bringing his score to 8435.

“I’m really happy, I was not expecting to go over 8400 points – it's just amazing,” said Kaul, who went on to win the senior world decathlon title in 2019, just two years after his record-breaking feat in Grosseto. “This is the best way to end the season.”