The highlight of the athletics season is fast approaching, with the European Championships set to be held in Birmingham from 10 to 16 August 2026. Leo Neugebauer will be among the VfB representatives in England’s second-largest city as he goes in search of medals for Germany.
The decathlete, who has competed for Stuttgart since 2023, heads into the competition as the reigning world champion. In this interview he discusses his preparations, how he copes with pressure, and the recent performances of VfB’s men’s and women’s teams.
Hi Leo, you live and train in the USA for the most part, and the country was recently one of the host nations for the World Cup. What was your impression of the atmosphere and excitement for ‘soccer’ over there?
Leo Neugebauer: “Football is still relatively new in the USA. The big, traditional sports have always been basketball and American Football. But football fever has increased, which obviously has a lot to do with the World Cup. For example, during the tournament there were lots of public viewing events and there was lots going on. The level of interest in football is growing.”
At your club VfB, both the men’s and women’s sides have begun preparations for the new Bundesliga season. To what extent do you follow the teams’ matches?
Leo Neugebauer: “I keep up with them as much as I can. I’ve essentially been a Stuttgarter my whole life, so it’s part of who I am. It’s been particularly special to celebrate so many successes recently with the club. Reaching the Champions League, getting to the DFB Cup final two years in a row, and then the women’s team getting promoted – it’s been an extraordinary period that we’re fortunate enough to be experiencing at the moment.”
Leo Neugebauer:
I feel very good right now.
You yourself are currently in the middle of your decathlon season. You set a season best in May this year in Götzis, and in June you almost matched it in Ratingen. How do you assess your current form?
Leo Neugebauer: “I feel very good right now. I’ve rarely competed in two decathlons so close together before – and the fact that both went so well is definitely a very good sign for me. I’m right on track.”
The highlight of the athletics season takes place in Birmingham, England with the European Championships in August. What are your aims there?
Leo Neugebauer: “My first aim is to give absolutely everything, to leave it all out there. Then we’ll see what that gets me. I feel capable of achieving something special in my current form, and I’m really looking forward to the European Championships. I just want to put in a really strong performance and produce some very good results.”
After winning silver at the Olympic Games in 2024 and gold at the World Championships last year, to what extent do you feel greater expectations – whether from others or from yourself?
Leo Neugebauer: “I’ve learned to cope with that better over the last few years, and I’ve improved in this regard. Now I’m good at tuning that out and focusing fully on the here and now. The experience at the 2024 Olympics was a particularly special one as the pressure was huge. To come away with the silver medal made me stronger.”
Does an achievement like that take some of the pressure off?
Leo Neugebauer: “Yes, you can definitely say that. You get the feeling that you’ve broken through and overcome a certain hurdle. Afterwards you’re aware that achieving success like that was extremely difficult but that it’s also possible. Generally speaking, I always try to approach competitions with enjoyment and enthusiasm. That gives me a certain freedom.”
Neugebauer’s major honours
In addition to his decathlon triumph at the 2025 World Championships in Tokyo, Neugebauer put in some incredible performances at the aforementioned 2024 Olympics in Paris, where he won the silver medal. In doing so, he became the first German athlete to win an Olympic medal for the decathlon since Frank Busemann in 1996.
Moreover, Neugebauer holds the German decathlon record with 8,961 points, which he set in June 2024 at the NCAA Championships in Eugene, USA. He was also named as Germany’s Sportsperson of the Year for 2025.
