Leo Neugebauer (born 19 June 2000) is a German multi-event

track and field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a ru ...

athlete. He is the German record holder in the

decathlon The decathlon is a combined event in athletics consisting of 10 track and field events. The word "decathlon" was formed, in analogy to the word "pentathlon", from Greek δέκα (''déka'', meaning "ten") and ἄθλος (''áthlos'', or ἄ ...

and indoor

heptathlon A heptathlon is a track and field combined events contest made up of seven events. The name derives from the Greek ἑπτά (hepta, meaning "seven") and ἄθλος (áthlos, or ἄθλον, áthlon, meaning "competition"). A competitor in a hep ...

and Olympic silver medalist in the

, having placed second at the

2024 Summer Olympics The 2024 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad () and branded as Paris 2024, were an international multi-sport event held in France from 26 July to 11 August 2024, with several events started from 24 July. P ...

Early life

Neugebauer was born in

Görlitz Görlitz (; ; ; ; ; Lusatian dialects, East Lusatian: , , ) is a town in the Germany, German state of Saxony. It is on the river Lusatian Neisse and is the largest town in Upper Lusatia, the second-largest town in the region of Lusatia after ...

and grew up in

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; ; Swabian German, Swabian: ; Alemannic German, Alemannic: ; Italian language, Italian: ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, largest city of the States of Germany, German state of ...

from the age of six weeks onwards. His mother, Diana, is from Germany, and his father, Terrance, is a football player from

Cameroon Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon, is a country in Central Africa. It shares boundaries with Nigeria to the west and north, Chad to the northeast, the Central African Republic to the east, and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the R ...

. He has one sister. Neugebauer joined the athletics club LG Leinfelden-Echterdingen, south of

. He moved to the

University of Texas The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 students as of fall 2 ...

in the United States on a sport scholarship to initially study mechanical engineering in 2019, but later switched to economics.

Career

2022

Competing at the

2022 World Athletics Championships The 2022 World Athletics Championships was the eighteenth edition of the World Athletics Championships. It was held at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon, United States, from July 15–24, 2022, with the country hosting that competition for the ...

Neugebauer finished tenth overall in the men's decathlon.

2023

Competing in the NCAA Championships for the

in June 2023, Neugebauer set a new collegiate record for the decathlon, with a points tally of 8,836 points that placed him in the top-10 of all time. The previous collegiate record of 8,720 was set by Kyle Garland in 2022. Neugebauer also broke the meet record of 8,457 set by

Ashton Eaton Ashton James Eaton (born January 21, 1988) is a retired American decathlete and two-time Olympic champion, who holds the world record in the indoor heptathlon event. Eaton was the second decathlete (after Roman Šebrle) to break the 9,000-poi ...

in 2010 and equalled by

Ayden Owens-Delerme Ayden Owens-Delerme (born 28 May 2000) is a Stateside Puerto Rican decathlete. He finished fourth at the 2022 World Athletics Championships. Early life Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Owens-Delerme first came to broad recognition as a multi- ...

in 2022. He earned personal bests in seven of the ten events, and his tally would have been enough to triumph at the previous years’ World Athletics Championships. Neugebauer also took the German national record of 8832 set in 1984 by Jürgen Hingsen. In November 2023, he joined the track and field department of

VfB Stuttgart Verein für Bewegungsspiele Stuttgart 1893 e. V. (), commonly known as VfB Stuttgart (), is a German professional sports club based in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg. The club's Association football, football team is currently part of Germany's f ...

2024

In 2024, Neugebauer joined

. He won the heptathlon at the NCAA Indoor Championships in March 2024 in

Boston, Massachusetts Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

. His tally of 6,347 points added more than 50 points to a German national record that had stood for 22 years. He also won the decathlon at the NCAA Division I Outdoor Championships in a new collegiate and national record of 8,961 points. Additionally, he set the world decathlon best in the discus throw with a throw of 57.70 m. At the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, Neugebauer won the silver medal in the Men's decathlon competition. This was Germany's first Olympic medal in the event since

Frank Busemann Frank Busemann (; born 26 February 1975 in Recklinghausen) is a former German decathlete. He currently works as a pundit for athletics coverage by German TV channel Das Erste. Busemann started his career as a 110 m hurdler and was junior worl ...

was also awarded silver at the 1996 games.

2025

He finished fifth at the

Hypo-Meeting The Hypo-Meeting is an annual athletics (sport), athletics competition that takes place in the Mösle stadium in Götzis in Vorarlberg (Austria) held in the spring (late May, early June). In its history, a total of three world records have been se ...

Götzis Götzis is a town in the western Austrian state of Vorarlberg. The Alpine Rhine valley municipality belongs to the district of Feldkirch. Population Events The town is well known for its annual hypo-combined events meeting, the so-called ...

on 1 June 2025 with a tally of 8555 points.

Achievements

International championships

Honors and awards

The Bowerman The Bowerman is an annual track and field award that is the highest accolade given to the year's best student-athlete in American college athletics, collegiate track and field. It is named after Oregon Ducks track and field, Oregon track and field ...

Leo Neugebauer Wins The Bowerman In 2024
U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association, 19 December 2024

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Neugebauer, Leo 2000 births Living people German decathletes VfB Stuttgart athletes Athletes from Stuttgart German people of Cameroonian descent United States collegiate record holders in athletics (track and field) World Athletics Championships athletes for Germany Texas Longhorns men's track and field athletes NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships winners NCAA Division I Indoor Track and Field Championships winners Athletes (track and field) at the 2024 Summer Olympics Olympic decathletes Olympic silver medalists for Germany Olympic athletes for Germany Medalists at the 2024 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medalists in athletics (track and field)