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Sprinter Gina Lückenkemper was voted Sportswoman of the Year
Photo: Uwe Anspach / dpa
Sprinter Gina Lückenkemper and decathlete Niklas Kaul are Germany's athletes of the year 2022. After their successes at the home European Championships in Munich, the two track and field athletes were honored on Sunday evening at a celebratory gala in the Kurhaus in Baden-Baden.
The Eintracht Frankfurt footballers received the award for Team of the Year after their triumph in the Europa League.
Lückenkemper (1356 points) prevailed in the election of the more than 3000 members of the Association of German Sports Journalists (VDS) well ahead of serial winner Malaika Mihambo (863), who had been voted Sportswoman of the Year in the past three years.
The sprinter had won gold over 100 meters and in the relay at the European Championships in Munich.
The women's podium was completed as third toboggan Olympic champion Natalie Geisenberger (766 points).
For men, Kaul (1256 points) was awarded for the second time after 2019 thanks to his European title in the Munich Olympic Stadium.
The 24-year-old prevailed with a clear lead over Vinzenz Geiger (871), who had won the individual Olympic gold medal in Nordic combined in Beijing.
After his two world championship gold medals in open water, swimmer Florian Wellbrock (761) came in third.
The choice of teams was the closest, in the end the European Cup winners Eintracht Frankfurt (975 points) made the race.
In the Europa League, the SGE prevailed against the Glasgow Rangers in the final, and in the vote for the team of the year, the Frankfurters landed just ahead of the sprint relay around Lückenkemper (895).
Somewhat surprisingly, the German soccer players only took third place (828 points) after reaching the European Championship final.
Bob dominator Francesco Friedrich with his pushers and cross-country Olympic champions Katharina Hennig and Victoria Carl completed the top five.
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