The favorites prevailed in the election for Germany’s Sportsman of the Year on Sunday evening. In the men’s category, athlete Leo Neugebauer won, the 25-year-old decathlon world champion prevailed in the journalist voting ahead of swimmer Florian Wellbrock and professional cyclist Florian Lipowitz.
Neugebauer received 2,343 points in the election and was honored at the gala in the Kurhaus in Baden-Baden. A year after winning Olympic silver in Paris, Neugebauer crowned his sporting career to date with the World Championship gold medal in Tokyo. He is following in the footsteps of Niklas Kaul, who also won World Cup gold in 2019 and was voted Sportsman of the Year a few months later.
Preuss wins ahead of Varfolomeev
Biathlete Franziska Preuß won the women’s event. The 31-year-old won four World Cup medals this year and secured the title ahead of Darja Varfolomeev from rhythmic gymnastics and swimming world champion Anna Elendt. In addition to World Cup gold in the pursuit, Preuß also won precious metal in the sprint and in two relays and also won the overall World Cup, perhaps the greatest success of her career to date.
She follows, among others, Magdalena Neuner (2007, 2011, 2012), Laura Dahlmeier (2017) and Denise Herrmann-Wick (2023), who had already secured the award as biathletes. With 1,749 points, Preuß was just ahead of Varfolomeev (1,701), who won the election in the Olympic year of 2024.
German basketball players are the best team
The German national basketball team was named Team of the Year. Like two years ago, the European champion team led by captain Dennis Schröder secured the award. For the first time since 1993, the basketball players became European champions in Riga in September. In 2023, Schröder and Co. won World Cup gold for the first time.
With 2,638 points, the basketball players were well ahead of the competition. Second place went to the men’s national hockey team, which triumphed at the home European Championships in Mönchengladbach and scored 1,367 points. After winning bronze at the World Championships in Tokyo, the women’s 4×100 meter relay team led by Gina Lückekemper once again came in third (1051 points).
For the first time, a Special Olympics Female Athlete of the Year was named. The speed skater Sophie Dziadek from Bavaria won the election. The election is intended to recognize the sporting achievements of people with intellectual disabilities and create more visibility. Christiane Krajewski, President of Special Olympics Germany, described Dziadek’s honor as a “historic step.”
Results:
Men
1. Leo Neugebauer (athletics) 2343 points
2. Florian Wellbrock (swimming) 1377
3. Florian Lipowitz (cycling) 1140
4. Lukas Märtens (swimming) 786
5. Vinzenz Geiger (Nordic Combined) 669
Women
1. Franziska Preuß (biathlon) 1749 points
2. Darja Varfolomeev (rhythmic gymnastics) 1701
3. Anna Elendt (swimming) 880
4. Nathalie Armbruster (Nordic Combined) 861
5. Julia Taubitz (tobogganing) 728
team
1. National team men’s basketball 2638 points
2. National team men’s hockey 1367
3rd 4x100m relay women’s athletics 1051
4. Team Men Nordic Combined 800
5. National team women’s football 517
