Sportspeople from Bezirk Leipzig

Ulrike Mertesacker (née Stange; born 25 April 1984 in Oschatz) is a German former professional handball player. She played for several top-flight handball clubs and the German national team in her seven years as a professional. Since 2011 she has resided in London with her husband, Arsenal Academy manager and retired footballer Per Mertesacker, and last played for amateur side Thames Handball Club.

Kristin Otto (born 7 February 1966) is a German Olympic swimming champion. She is most famous for being the first woman to win six gold medals at a single Olympic Games, doing so at the 1988 Seoul Olympic games. In long course, she held the world records in the 100 meter and 200 meter freestyle events. Otto was also the first woman to swim the short course 100 meter backstroke in under a minute, doing so at an international short course meet at Indiana University in 1983.

Babett Peter (born 12 May 1988) is a German footballer. She plays as a defender for Real Madrid CF.

Renate Stecher (née Meißner, born 12 May 1950) is a German (former East German) sprint runner and a triple Olympic champion. She held 34 world records and was the first woman to run 100 meters within 11 seconds.

Birte Weigang (born 31 January 1968 in Leipzig) is a former butterfly and backstroke swimmer from East Germany, who won three medals at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea. The twenty-year-old triumphed with the DDR women's relay team in the 4×100 m medley together with her teammates Kristin Otto, Silke Hörner and Katrin Meissner, and finished second in both the 100 m and the 200 m butterfly. She won a gold medal in 1987 at the European Championships, in the women's 4×100 m medley.

Petra Rossner (born 14 November 1966) is a German cyclist, who won the gold medal in 3 km pursuit track cycling at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona. In the same event she won the 1991 World Championships and finished second in 1989.

Bärbel Wöckel (née Eckert; born 21 March 1955 in Leipzig) is a retired East German sprinter, who specialized in the 200 metres.

Stefan Kretzschmar (born 17 February 1973 in Leipzig) is a retired professional German handball player. The son of Peter Kretzschmar, a legendary handball player and coach in the former GDR (East Germany) and Waltraud Kretzschmar, a former handball player for the East German team and winner of Olympic team medals in silver (1976) and bronze (1980), he was a three-time Olympic athlete and winner of the Olympic silver medal with the German team in 2004. He is well known for his many tattoos and piercings. He ended his active career on 14 July 2007 and currently resides in Magdeburg, Germany, where he continues to hold a position with the local handball club, SC Magdeburg.

Silke Abicht (born 7 October 1968) is a German diver. She competed in the 1988 Summer Olympics.

Anita Otto (née Hentschel, 12 December 1942 – 18 April 2019) was a German discus thrower. Representing East Germany, she won bronze in women's discus at the 1966 European Athletics Championships and placed fourth at the 1968 Summer Olympics.