What an honour for Leo Neugebauer! The 25-year-old VfB decathlete, who took home the gold medal at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo earlier this year, was chosen on Sunday evening as Germany’s ‘Sportsperson of the Year’, finishing clear of the other candidates at the award ceremony in Baden-Baden. Second place went to Florian Wellbrock (swimming), third to Florian Lipowitz (cycling). Para-shot-putter Niko Kappel, another VfB athlete, was also among those to receive votes and finished ninth.
“I am absolutely delighted to have won this award,” said Neugebauer, who signed a contract extension with VfB earlier this month. “It’s something of a full-circle moment for me, having won ‘Newcomer of the Year’ at the ceremony two years ago. It’s a fantastic feeling – thank you so, so much for this award. It means so much to me.”
German sporting tradition since 1947
The Sportsperson of the Year award has been a fixture in the German calendar since 1947, while the Team of the Year award was inaugurated in 1957. This is the first time that a VfB Stuttgart athlete has landed the ‘Sportsperson of the Year’ crown.
