Decathlete Leo Neugebauer and biathlete Franziska Preuß were honored in Baden-Baden as Germany's athletes of the year. Both impressed with outstanding performances in their disciplines. The men's basketball national team received the award as team of the year.
In a ceremonial event at the Kurhaus in Baden-Baden, Leo Neugebauer and Franziska Preuß were named Germany's athletes of the year 2024. The 25-year-old track and field athlete Neugebauer earned the title after a silver at the Paris Olympics and the decathlon world championship in Tokyo. He follows in the footsteps of Niklas Kaul, who was similarly honored in 2019.
The 31-year-old biathlete Franziska Preuß won the women's award narrowly ahead of rhythmic gymnast Darja Varfolomeev by just 48 points. Preuß dominated the biathlon overall World Cup and took gold in the pursuit at the world championships. Third place went to swimmer Anna Elendt, who claimed the 100-meter breaststroke world title in Singapore with a German record time. Varfolomeev, last year's winner, celebrated five gold medals at the world championships in August.
Among the men, swimmer Florian Wellbrock took second place with four gold medals in open water at the swimming world championships in Singapore. Third was cyclist Florian Lipowitz, who finished third in the Tour de France behind Tadej Pogačar and Jonas Vingegaard.
The men's basketball national team was awarded team of the year following their European Championship title in September. Captain Andreas Obst said: "It is nice to be up here again." For the first time, there was an award for a Special Olympics athlete: short tracker Sophie Dziadek, praised by Felix Neureuther. The gala also paid tribute to the late biathlete Laura Dahlmeier.
