Leo Neugebauer certainly enjoyed a special weekend back home. The decathlete, who has been competing for VfB since 2023 and won gold at the World Championships in Tokyo in September, was invited to a sold-out MHP Arena in front of 60,000 fans. Club president Dietmar Allgaier announced the contract extension for the 25-year-old, and also that Neugebauer has been awarded the gold and ruby service medal, which is the club’s highest accolade. Two reasons for us to sit down with Neugebauer to look back at the past few weeks and see what lies ahead for him.
Hello Leo, congratulations on the contract extension and on the gold and ruby service medal. How is important to you is the support you receive from the VfB family?
Neugebauer: “VfB is part of my roots. It’s such a special feeling for me to have so many people wishing me the best of luck and following my results. I’m really grateful for this support and was delighted with both the contract extension and the award. It was also such a thrill to see that the VfB fans in the stadium hold up a huge banner for me to celebrate my World Championships title in Tokyo – that really touched me. I wasn’t expecting that kind of recognition.”
Getting back to what you’ve been up to recently: last week you had a training camp in South Africa. What were you focusing on down there?
Neugebauer: “It was the first time that I’d got to go to South Africa. The training camp fitted in perfectly with my schedule and was part of my off-season programme. It was a really cool experience and the conditions out there were good.”
There has been increased public and media interest in you since you won the world title in Tokyo last September. How do you manage to strike a balance between sport, other engagements and your private life?
Neugebauer: “I’m learning from experience and getting better all the time at managing it all. Basically, I love the fact that I get such fantastic recognition for my sport. The first real uptick came in 2023 when I broke the German record for the decathlon. That led to an increase in requests and expectation levels, so it’s nothing new. I’ve been able to get used to it over time.”
Sandrina Sprengel – one of Germany’s best heptathletes – has now joined VfB, and she went with you to South Africa for the training camp. How do you see her career to date?
Leo Neugebauer: “Sandrina’s doing so well. I was amazed at how she did at her first major World Championships. She finished fifth already in Tokyo, which is amazing and totally crazy – in a good way! She stepped up and performed really well – I’ve got a lot of respect for that and I doff my hat to her!”
