"One to watch in Paris"-Michael Johnson reacts to Leo Neugebauer's collegiate decathlon record at NCAA Championships as he ranks 6th on all-time list

Olympic legend Michael Johnson recently reacted to German athlete Leo Neugebauer's decathlon performance at the ongoing NCAA Outdoor Championships. The 23-year-old was ranked as the sixth all-time performer. Johnson said the youngster could be an athlete to “watch” out for at the Paris Olympics 2024.

University of Texas student Neugebauer is a record holder in the heptathlon and decathlon events. In 2022, he competed in the Men's decathlon event where he finished 10th. He entered the list of all-time decathlon performers in 2023 after scoring a collegiate record of 8836 points.

Neugebauer also won the heptathlon event at the NCAA Indoor Championships last month. He scored 6347 points which was 50 more than a 22-year-old German record.

On June 7, the Texas Longhorns teammate stunned the sports world once again by setting a new collegiate and national record in decathlon. He scored a total of 8,961 points to win his second consecutive NCAA title. Moreover, it was recognized as the sixth all-time performance.

Acknowledging Leo Neugebauer’s stunning performance, four-time Olympic gold medalist Michael Johnson praised him. The 56-year-old believes in the Texas Longhorns’ athlete's caliber ahead of the Paris Olympics 2024. Johnson took to X (formerly known as Twitter) to write:

"Impressive! One to watch in Paris."

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Leo Neugebauer on his winning performance at the NCAA Outdoor Championships 2024

Neugebauer at Day 7 - World Athletics Championships Budapest 2023

After claiming his milestone NCAA title, Leo Neugebauer expressed his feelings. Speaking to Olympics.com, the 23-year-old German athlete said:

"It's been a crazy way... just like my progression. It's been like a slow process, especially the last two years. I really put in a lot of work, a lot every single day... You have to earn it every single day. And that's what I did."

With his total score of 8,961 points, Leo Neugebauer is now over 200 points ahead of potential threat Ayden Owens-Delerme's previous world lead of 8,732. The Puerto Rican athlete finished fourth at the 2022 World Athletics Championships in decathlon. He is currently preparing for the Paris Olympics 2024.

Neugebauer weighed in on scoring more than Owen-Delerme, saying:

"I can't even describe doing that here. I had so much fun, being also my last meet in college."

He added that he would be back to training for the Olympics soon.

"I feel great to go back to work. [I'm going] to go back to work in like a week or two. So I'm excited," he said.