World champions Niklas Kaul and Malaika Mihambo have been overwhelmingly voted German Athletes of the Year for 2019.
Kaul was voted German Athlete of the Year on the men’s side with 74.6 percent while Mihambo received 53.2 percent of the vote on the women’s side ahead of Gesa Felicitas Krause (18.0 percent) and Konstanze Klosterhalfen (11.7 percent).
Both Kaul and Mihambo performed exceptionally at the World Athletics Championships in Doha. Kaul became the youngest ever world decathlon champion at the age of 21 and Mihambo approached the championship record in the long jump final with 7.30m, missing Jackie Joyner-Kersee’s long standing mark by six centimetres.
Kaul also won the decathlon title at the European U23 Championships with a championship record total of 8572 points and Mihambo performed at a superbly high level all season, winning all of her outdoor competitions and surpassing the seven metre-barrier seven times.
The voting for the U20 awards was decidedly closer. Sarah Vogel, who won the pole vault title at the European Youth Olympic Games in Baku, topped the voting on the women’s side with 16.0 percent ahead of Josina Papenfuss (14.6 percent) and Sophie Volkmer (13.8 percent) with European U20 3000m champion Elias Schreml leading the men’s voting with 19.2 percent from decathlete Leo Neugebauer (13.8 percent).
The winners will be recognised and presented with their trophies at the German Indoor Championships in Leipzig on 22-23 February.
Mihambo’s seven seven metre-plus competitions in 2019
7.30m World Athletics Championships, Doha (6 October)7.16m German Championships, Berlin (4 August)
7.11m European Athletics Team Championships, Bydgoszcz (11 August)
7.07m Rome Diamond League (6 June)
7.05m Dessau (14 June)
7.03m Diamond League Final, Brussels (6 September)
7.02m London Diamond League (21 July)