The Laureus World Sports Awards
The Laureus World Sports Awards is an an annual award ceremony honouring individuals and teams from the world of sports along with sporting achievements throughout the year. The first ceremony was held on May 25th 2000 in Monte Carlo, at which South African president Nelson Mandela gave the keynote speech.
The name of the Laureus Fondation, which organizes the gala every year, comes from the word Laurel which is a well-known symbol in the world of sports all the way to the Olympics. Every year, they recognize sporting achievements in a wide range of categories :
Sportsman of the year
Sportswoman of the year
Team of the year
Comeback of the year
Breakthrough of the year
Action sportsperson of the year
Sportsperson of the year with a disability
The winners are chosen through a secret vote held by the Laureus Sport Academy, the academy is composed of retired athletes and led by former rugby player Sean Fitzpatrick.
Laureus Sportsman of the Year
Novak Djokovic, who won the award 4 times already (2012-2015-2016-2019), had a record-breaking season last year. In addition to winning the Tour Player's Championship, he won 3 Grand Slams and made the final of Wimbledon, surpassing Rafael Nadal for the most Grand Slams in history.
This category has historically been dominated by tennis players, since its creation only 4 editions did not have a tennis player in its nominees and only 1 did not have any since the rise of the BIG 3. Without surprise, Roger Federer holds the record for the most awards with 5.
For the 2024 edition, Novak Djokovic will be in excellent company :
Novak Djokovic - Tennis
Noah Lyles - Athletics
Mondo Duplantis - Athletics
Max Verstappen - Formula 1
Erling Haaland - Soccer / European Football
Lionel Messi - Soccer / European Football
Laureus Sportswoman of the Year
Without surprise, Iga Swiatek is also nominated in the Laureus World Sports Awards. Swiatek, who spent the year at number 1 in the world, finished the season with an impressive 68-11 (86.1%) record and 5 titles, including the prestigious French Open. It will be her second year in a row where she is nominated in the category that saw an impressive total of 17 different tennis players in its nominees, including tennis legends such as the Williams sisters, Justine Henin, Ashley Barty, Kim Clijsters and Lindsay Davenport.
Contrary to Sportsman of the Year, this category has been dominated by Olympic sports such as athletics and gymnastics, Simone Biles holding the record with 5 trophies. Iga Swiatek will also be in good company :
Iga Swiatek - Tennis
Aitana Bonmati - Soccer / European Football
Shericka Jackson - Athletics
Faith Kipyegon - Athletics
Sha'Carri Richardson - Athletics
Mikaela Shiffrin - Alpine Skiing
Laureus Breakthrough of the Year
This award is self-explanatory, it was notably given to Emma Raducanu in 2022 after her U.S. Open title and to Carlos Alcaraz last year. This year, Coco Gauff is nominated and will try to improve the record held by tennis players with a 9th award. In addition to finishing number 1 in the world in doubles in 2023 with her partner Jessica Pegula, Coco Gauff won her first WTA 1000 title in Cincinnati followed by the first Grand Slam of her career in Flushing Meadows at the U.S. Open.
In order to win this award, she will have to beat 5 other athletes that had tremendous breakthroughs in 2023 :
Coco Gauff - Tennis
Jude Bellingham - Soccer / European Football
Linda Caceido - Soccer / European Football
Salma Paralluelo - Soccer / European Football
Qin Hauyang - Swimming
Josh Kerr - Athletics
The 25th Laureus World Sports Awards
The 25th Laureus World Sports Awards will be hosted at the prestigious Palacio de Cibeles in Madrid. The "Oscars of sports" will be awarded during the evening of April 22nd, 2024. We wish best of luck to all the athletes, but especially to Novak Djokovic, Iga Swiatek and Coco Gauff.
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