Laureus World Sport Awards: All the nominees

The nominees for the 23^rd annual Laureus World Sport Awards, revealed today, include some of the greatest athletes on the planet. The world’s media have voted across seven categories to honour the sportsmen, sportswomen and teams who set new standards in a year like no other.

Tom Brady, Ashleigh Barty, Robert Lewandowski and Elaine Thompson-Herah are among the sporting icons hoping to see their name on one of the famous Laureus statuettes at this year’s awards. Also nominated are members of a generation of athletes who broke new ground: we may not have known names such as Emma Raducanu, Pedri or Momiji Nishiya 12 months ago, but their achievements drove these teenagers to the top of their sports, and that’s where they plan to stay.

As the pandemic continued in 2021, fans were not always present to take part when the biggest shows in sport returned. The delayed Olympic and Paralympic Games in Tokyo, football’s European Championship – both postponed from 2020 – and other elite tournaments and events found a way to take place safely.  Sometimes we had to watch from afar and the athletes had to perform without support or atmosphere, adding pressure to their performance. 

Four Olympians compete in the category of Laureus World Sportswoman of the Year, and each claimed their own piece of history.

On the track, Elaine Thompson-Herah emulated her fellow Jamaican Usain Bolt with golds in the 100, 200 and 4 x 100metre relay, while Allyson Felix became the USA’s most decorated track-and-field Olympian.

In the pool, Emma McKeon’s four gold and three bronze medals tied the record for the most won by a woman at a single Games, and Katie Ledecky, who added two gold and two silver medals to become the most decorated female swimmer in Olympic history.

Also short-listed are world No 1 tennis player Ashleigh Barty, who won Wimbledon, and Alexia Putellas, Champions League winner with FC Barcelona and the winner of the Ballon d’Or.

The Tokyo Games also provided two of our nominees for the Laureus World Sportsman of the Year Award: Caeleb Dressel, who won five golds in the pool, and Eliud Kipchoge, who defended his title in the marathon.

They are up against former winner Novak Djokovic, Bayern Munich’s star striker Robert Lewandowski and Max Verstappen, who won the Formula One Drivers’ Championship on a dramatic final race day in Abu Dhabi. The list is completed by Tom Brady, who led the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to victory in Super Bowl LV and established himself as the greatest quarterback in NFL history.

The full list of nominees is:

LAUREUS WORLD SPORTSMAN OF THE YEAR AWARD

Tom Brady (USA) American Football – the greatest NFL quarterback, he won a record seventh Super Bowl
Novak Djokovic (Serbia) Tennis – won three Grand Slams in 2021 to take his total of career wins to 20
Caeleb Dressel (USA) Swimming – outstanding male swimmer in Tokyo with five Olympic gold medals
Eliud Kipchoge (Kenya) Athletics – became third person in history to win back-to-back Olympic marathons
Robert Lewandowski (Poland) Football – surpassed Gerd Muller’s record of 40 goals in a season for Bayern
Max Verstappen (Netherlands) Motor Racing – won his first Formula One World Championship in 2021

LAUREUS WORLD SPORTSWOMAN OF THE YEAR AWARD

Ashleigh Barty (Australia) Tennis – world No.1, won Wimbledon, her second career Grand Slam
Allyson Felix (USA) Athletics – surpassed Carl Lewis as the most decorated track and field US Olympian
Katie Ledecky (USA) Swimming – won 800 and 1,500 metres freestyle golds in Tokyo, plus two silver medals
Emma McKeon (Australia) Swimming – won four gold and three bronze in Tokyo, the most by an individual
Alexia Putellas (Spain) Football – Barcelona captain; won Ballon d’Or and UEFA Women’s Player of Year
Elaine Thompson-Herah (Jamaica) Athletics – won Olympic 100 and 200 metres and 4x100m relay

LAUREUS WORLD TEAM OF THE YEAR AWARD

Argentina Men’s Football Team – won Copa America; Lionel Messi’s first international trophy, at age of 34
Barcelona Women’s Football Team (Spain) – won first Champions League, beating English club Chelsea 4-0
China Olympic Diving Team – won gold medals in seven of the eight events staged in the pool in Tokyo
Italy Men’s Football Team – under Roberto Mancini won European Championship for first time since 1968
Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team (Germany) – won record eighth Constructors Championship
Milwaukee Bucks (USA) Basketball – inspired by Giannis Antetokounmpo, won a second NBA championship

LAUREUS WORLD BREAKTHROUGH OF THE YEAR AWARD

Neeraj Chopra (India) Athletics – won javelin to become India’s first winner of an Olympic athletics gold
Daniil Medvedev (Russia) Tennis – won his first ever Grand Slam, dropping only one set in the US Open
Pedri (Spain) Football – 19, played 53 times in 2020/21 for Barcelona, and every game for Spain in Euro 2020
Emma Raducanu (UK) Tennis – became a global sensation when she won the US Open at the age of 18
Yulimar Rojas (Venezuela) Athletics – broke 26-year-old world record to win triple jump gold in Tokyo
Ariarne Titmus (Australia) Swimming – aged 20, beat champion Katie Ledecky at 200 and 400m in Tokyo

LAUREUS WORLD COMEBACK OF THE YEAR AWARD

Simone Biles (USA) Gymnastics – after withdrawing in Tokyo, she came back to win bronze in the beam
Sky Brown (UK) Skateboarding – aged 13, recovered from fractured skull to win bronze medal in Tokyo
Mark Cavendish (UK) Cycling – fought back from depression to win second Tour de France sprint title
Tom Daley (UK) Diving – had knee surgery in June, but won 10 metres synchronised gold in Tokyo
Marc Márquez (Spain) Motor Cycling – first win in 581 days, after recovering from broken arm at start of 2020
Annemiek van Vleuten (Netherlands) Cycling – won Olympic time trial days after missing gold in road race

LAUREUS SPORTSPERSON OF THE YEAR WITH A DISABILITY AWARD

Diede De Groot (Netherlands) Wheelchair Tennis – first player to complete the calendar-year Golden Slam
Marcel Hug (Switz) Wheelchair Athletics – won Paralympic gold medals in 800, 1,500, 5,000m and marathon
Shingo Kunieda (Japan) Wheelchair Tennis – host-nation hero, won fourth Paralympic gold of his career
Jetze Plat (Netherlands) Para Cycling / Para Triathlon – won three Paralympic gold medals in two sports
Susana Rodríguez (Spain) Para Triathlon – won gold in Tokyo in triathlon PTVI, her first Paralympic medal
Sarah Storey (UK) Para Cycling – won three golds from three events to take her career total to 17

LAUREUS WORLD ACTION SPORTSPERSON OF THE YEAR AWARD

Ítalo Ferreira (Brazil) Surfing – in Tokyo became the first-ever surfing Olympic gold medal winner
Alberto Ginés (Spain) Climbing – aged 18, scaled 15-metre wall in 6.42 seconds to win speed climbing gold
Yuto Horigome (Japan) Skateboarding – won first ever skateboarding Olympic gold to delight of host nation
Carissa Moore (USA) Surfing – won first ever women’s Olympic surfing gold, then added her fifth world title
Momiji Nishiya (Japan) Skateboarding – at 13, won first-ever Olympic gold medal in women’s street event
Bethany Shriever (UK) BMX – first woman to win both Olympic and World Championship gold in same year

LAUREUS SPORT FOR GOOD AWARD

Programmes shortlisted by a specialist selection panel; Laureus Academy select the winner

Ich will da rauf! (Germany) Climbing – disabled and non-disabled share challenge of the climbing wall
Jucà Pe Cagnà (Italy) Multi-sport – provides safe places to play away from the influence of crime
Kick 4 Life (Lesotho) Football – supports young people through health education and HIV testing
Lost Boyz Inc. (USA) Baseball/Softball – works in Chicago to decrease violence and improve social
conditions
Monkey Magic (Japan) Climbing – promotes free climbing for those with visual impairment