Athlete of the Year: Neugebauer, Preuß & Basketball Stars Win

Premiere for Leo Neugebauer and Franziska Preuß, repeat coup for Dennis Schröder and his long-term winners: The decathlon world champion, the overall World Cup winner in biathlon and the European basketball champions are the athletes of the year 2025.

At the ceremony in the Kurhaus in Baden-Baden, 720 invited guests came together on the evening of the fourth Advent to honor the top sporting achievements in the interim year between the Olympics in Paris and the Winter Games in February.

In the festively decorated Bénazet Hall, the look ahead was to the mega sports year of 2026 with the Olympics in Italy and the World Cup in the USA, Mexico and Canada. But the focus was on the winners of the journalists’ election, who achieved great things in the past sporting year. This also and especially applied to track and field athlete Neugebauer, who, in contrast to the other winners, was no longer under the stress of competition shortly before Christmas.

The 25-year-old was crowned king of athletes for the first time on the rainy final day of the World Cup in Tokyo – and thus secured the only German gold in the title fights. Neugebauer lay exhausted on the track, clutching his medal and a German flag. A wheelchair was even brought to the model athlete after the final 1,500 meters.

Neugebauer’s triumph in the election was expected. The four-time swimming world champion Florian Wellbrock (1377 points) and the Tour de France third Florian Lipowitz (1140) ended up in the ranks and well behind the gold winner from Tokyo (2343). “This thing will be really celebrated today, it will be a really great evening,” promised Neugebauer. His father brought him the trophy and there was also a greeting from sprint icon Usain Bolt.

His relaxed manner and his always good mood have won Neugebauer many fans. He regularly shares what he does on social media. He last reported from the training camp in South Africa, and before that from Cameroon, where he met the local part of his family and changed into local clothes. Neugebauer’s father comes from Cameroon.

The biathlete Preuß comes from Wasserburg am Inn in Bavaria and, at an advanced age, experienced the best season of her career. “Everything went perfectly from start to finish,” said Preuß after her award. She won the big crystal ball as overall winner in the World Cup, as well as gold and three other medals at the World Championships in Lenzerheide. “I no longer have to prove anything to myself or anyone else,” said 31-year-old Preuß, who has been in a relationship with former biathlete Simon Schempp for a long time.

A crucial point for her triumph was that Preuß finally stayed healthy – unlike in the past, where she had to end seasons early, miss highlights or fail to deliver. “My confidence in my performance is greater and now gives me a bit of calmness.”

During the competition, she and her partner Schempp sometimes live “like in a monastery” and sleep in separate rooms, as the 2014 Olympic relay champion reported in the BR24 podcast. But in the Olympic winter, of all times, a corona and flu infection set her back, but she has now broken the Olympic standard. Preuß came out on top with 1,749 points, just ahead of last year’s winner Darja Varfolomeev (1,701) and swimmer Anna Elendt (880).

A moving moment at the gala was the memory of a former biathlon idol, Laura Dahlmeier, who had a fatal accident while mountaineering this year. The audience in the hall was moved to listen to a song by musician Gregor Meyle in honor of Dahlmeier, who was Athlete of the Year in 2017.

The basketball players who completed the title double consisting of world and European championship titles with European Championship gold in Riga in September were honored again after 2023. The NBA professionals around captain Schröder and young star Franz Wagner led national coach Alex Mumbru’s team to the next big trophy in the final against Turkey.

What was particularly notable about the triumph was the absence of Mumbru, who had to go to hospital during the European Championships due to a complicated pancreatic disease and went back to the clinic the day after the final in Riga. “The boys wanted to win it for Alex too,” said assistant Alan Ibrahimagic, who moved up and led Germany to gold.

The “Special Olympics Female Athlete of the Year” award was given for the first time to people with intellectual disabilities. The short track athlete Sophia Dziadek won at the premiere and said: “It means a lot to me that my achievements are seen.” Laudator Felix Neureuther explained with full appreciation: “She shows what is possible in sport when people are given opportunities and can show their strengths.”

Note: This article has been updated.