Leo Neugebauer (; born 19 June 2000) is a German multi-event track and field athlete. He is the German record holder in the decathlon and indoor heptathlon, World Athletics Championships gold medalist, having placed first at the 2025 World Championships, European Athletics Championships gold medalist, having placed first at the 2026 European Championships, and Olympic silver medalist in the decathlon, having placed second at the 2024 Summer Olympics.
Early life Neugebauer was born in Görlitz and grew up in Stuttgart from the age of six weeks onwards. His mother, Diana, is from Germany, and his father, Terrance, is a football player from Cameroon. He has one sister.
Neugebauer joined the athletics club LG Leinfelden-Echterdingen, south of Stuttgart. He moved to the University of Texas at Austin in the United States on a sport scholarship to initially study mechanical engineering in 2019, but later switched to economics. In early 2024 before the Paris Olympics he left LG Leinfelden-Echterdingen and joined VfB Stuttgart.
Career 2022-2023: NCAA champion Competing at the 2022 World Athletics Championships Neugebauer finished tenth overall in the men's decathlon.
Competing in the NCAA Championships for the University of Texas 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 8720 was set by Kyle Garland in 2022. Neugebauer also broke the meet record of 8457 set by Ashton Eaton in 2010 and equalled by Ayden Owens-Delerme 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.
2024: National heptathlon record holder, Olympic medalist Neugebauer won the heptathlon at the NCAA Indoor Championships in March 2024 in Boston, Massachusetts. 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 was also awarded silver at the 1996 games.
2025: World champion Neugebauer finished fifth at the Hypo-Meeting in Götzis on 1 June 2025 with a tally of 8,555 points.
On September 21, 2025, Neugebauer won a gold medal for decathlon with 8,804 points at the 2025 World Athletics Championships in Tokyo, Japan, winning by twenty points ahead of Ayden Owens-Delerme of Puerto Rico.
2026 In May 2026, Neugebauer finished second to Simon Ehammer, finishing on 8730 points, at the Hypo-Meeting in Gotzis. In August, he won the decathlon at the 2026 European Championships in Birmingham, England, finishing just 38 points ahead of compatriot Niklas Kaul, with a final total of 8611 points. He finished the season placed second in the 2026 World Athletics Combined Events Tour rankings.
Competition record 2022World ChampionshipsEugene10thDecathlon8,182 points2023World ChampionshipsBudapest5thDecathlon8,645 points2024Olympic GamesParis2ndDecathlon8,748 points2025World ChampionshipsTokyo1stDecathlon8,804 points2026European ChampionshipsBirmingham1stDecathlon8,611 points
Personal bests Information from World Athletics profile unless otherwise noted.
Outdoor
+Individual events Event Performance Location Date Long jump Lubbock 14 May 2022 High jump Ulm 27 July 2019 Pole vault Wetzlar 21 July 2024 100 metres 10.96 Baton Rouge 30 April 2022 10.69 Austin 29 April 2023 110 metres hurdles 14.40 Wetzlar 21 July 2024 14.35 Austin 29 April 2023 Shot put Baton Rouge 30 April 2022 Discus throw Walnut 19 April 2024
+Combined events Event Performance Location Date Score Decathlon Eugene 5–6 June 2024 8,961 points 100 metres 10.61 Austin 7 June 2023 949 points Long jump Budapest 25 August 2023 1,061 points Shot put Eugene 5 June 2024 942 points High jump Filderstadt 2 June 2018 868 points 400 metres 47.08 Austin 7 June 2023 954 points 110 metres hurdles 14.33 Austin 30 March 2023 932 points Discus throw Eugene 6 June 2024 1,032 points Pole vault Austin 8 June 2023 976 points Javelin throw Tokyo 21 September 2025 803 points 1500 metres 4:31.89 Tokyo 21 September 2025 732 points Virtual Best Performance 9,249 points
Decathlon best
Indoor
+Individual events Event Performance Location Date Long jump Clemson 14 January 2022 High jump Lubbock 27 February 2021 Pole vault Fayetteville 22 January 2021 60 metres 7.12 Clemson 14 February 2020 600 metres 1:20.74 Clemson 14 February 2025 60 metres hurdles 8.28 Clemson 14 January 2022 Shot put Louisville 13 January 2024
+Combined events Event Performance Location Date Score Heptathlon Boston 8–9 March 2024 6,265 points 60 metres 6.96 Albuquerque 2 February 2024 897 points Long jump Fayetteville 11 March 2021 1,027 points Shot put Albuquerque 2 February 2024 899 points High jump Boston 8 March 2024 887 points 60 metres hurdles 8.17 Boston 27 January 2023 939 points Pole vault Boston 9 March 2024 960 points 1000 metres 2:43.55 Albuquerque 11 March 2023 834 points Virtual Best Performance 6,443 points
Honors and awards The BowermanLeo Neugebauer Wins The Bowerman In 2024, U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association, 19 December 2024 German Sportspersonality of the Year 2025
References
External links