The evening of the Laureus World Sports Awards is fast approaching. This morning the nominations for the 25th edition of the Sports Oscars were announced, at the historic Casa de Correos in Madrid, home of the Presidency of the Community of Madrid, in the presence of representatives of the Awards Host Partners, including the President of the Region of Madrid, Isabel Díaz Ayuso, and the Mayor of Madrid, José Luis Martínez-Almeida. Also present at the announcement were legends of world sport and members of the Laureus Academy such as Luís Figo, Ruud Gullit, Nawal El Moutawakel and Alessandro Del Piero. All candidates were selected following voting by over 1300 journalists from all over the world. The winners of the Laureus World Sports Awards will be announced on April 22, in Madrid, at the end of the voting by the Laureus World Sports Academy, the jury par excellence made up of 69 sports legends.
Lionel Messi, absolute dominator in Paris last year, is once again in the running for the “Laureus World Sportsman of the Year Award”, after winning his eighth Ballon d'Or and bringing the Inter Miami wins the Concacaf League Cup. Contending for the title is Novak Djokovic, already a four-time winner of this award, capable of triumphing in 2023 in Melbourne, New York and Paris, winning 24 major titles and thus equaling Margaret Smith Court's record; Max Verstappen, who won this award in 2022, and last year set a new record of ten consecutive victories, winning 19 Grands Prix throughout the season, the fifth Formula 1 driver to win the title three times world.
Mondo Duplantis, who won his second world title and improved his pole vault world record on two occasions; Noah Lyles, gold medal at the World Athletics Championships in Budapest in the 100m, 200m and 4x100m relay, a feat that Usain Bolt last achieved in 2015; and Erling Haaland, who scored 52 goals in 2023. Also thanks to his goals, Manchester City won the Champions League, Premier League and FA Cup.
Three of the candidates for the “Laureus World Sportswoman of the Year” award were protagonists at the World Athletics Championships in Budapest. Faith Kipyegon (Kenya) became the first woman to win the 1,500 and 5,000 meters. Sha'Carri Richardson, starting from lane nine in her first world final, won the 100m, then repeating the gold medal also in the 4x100m relay. Shericka Jackson won the 200m with a time of 21''41, the second best performance ever at the distance, just seven hundredths of a second from Florence Griffith-Joyner's record which has stood for 35 years. In tennis, in 2023 Polish Iga Świątek won her third title at the French Open and regained first place in the world rankings with victory at the WTA finals in Cancun. The footballer of the year was, however, Aitana Bonmatí: in 365 days she won the World Cup with Spain, the Champions League and La Liga with Barcelona, as well as the Ballon d'Or. 2023 was also the year of Mikaela Shiffrin, who surpassed the historic record of 86 World Cup victories set by Ingemar Stenmark, and also won her seventh world giant slalom gold.
In the running for the “Laureus World Team of the Year Award” are the Spanish women's national football team, which won its first World Cup, defeating England in the final; the German men's national basketball team, led by tournament MVP Dennis Schröder, who first defeated the United States in the semifinals and then Serbia in the final at the World Cup; Manchester City, who achieved the treble, winning the Champions League, the Premier League and the FA Cup; the Springboks, who won their fourth Rugby World Cup, defeating New Zealand by a single point in a memorable final; Oracle Red Bul Racing, which came close to perfection, winning all but one of the Formula 1 Grands Prix with its two single-seaters and winning its second constructors' title; the Europe Ryder Cup team, which won the prestigious trophy in Rome, beating the USA team by 16 ½ to 11 ½.
Defending the Italian colors is the 23-year-old Paralympic swimmer Simone Barlaam, candidate in the “Laureus Sportsperson of the Year with a Disability Award” category. The nominees in this special category are decided not only by the Laureus Global Media Panel but also by the vote of the International Paralympic Committee. Simone was born with a right leg that did not develop properly and has been operated on 13 times. But despite this he rediscovered his love for swimming and in 2023 he achieved exceptional results, winning 6 gold medals at the Paralympic World Swimming Championships in Manchester.
Confirming his absolute dominance in the pool, Simone won the 50, 100 and 400 meter freestyle in the S9 category, the 100 meter butterfly S9, the 100 meter backstroke S9 and the 4×100 meter freestyle mixed relay. Simone also made history in his sport: in the S9 category he became, in fact, the fastest swimmer of all time, beating the world record for the 50 meters freestyle with a time of 23''96, and thus becoming the first swimmer to dip below the 24 second mark. To lift the prestigious Laureus Awards statuette, Simone will have to overcome competition from Danylo Chufarov, Ukrainian paralympic swimmer, Diede de Groot, Dutch wheelchair tennis super star, Luca Ekler, Hungarian paralympic sprinter and long jumper, Nicole Murray, New Zealand Paralympic cyclist, and Markus Rehm, German Paralympic long jumper.
Swimming legend Mark Spitz, member of the Laureus World Sports Academy, also spoke to highlight the candidacies of Simone Barlaam and Danylo Chufarov. «I congratulate Simone and Danylo on their nominations. It's great to see them in the running for such a prestigious award. They both had to go through really tough times to get to where they are today. Every year, when I read the list of achievements of the six nominees in this particular category, I realize that it is safe to say that all of them are already potential winners. They all have my respect and admiration.”
Also keeping our country's pride high is “Obiettivo Napoli”, the project nominated in the “Laureus Sport for Good Award” category. This special category recognizes individuals or organizations who, according to members of the Laureus World Sports Academy, have made a significant contribution, using sport as a therapeutic tool to improve the lives of children and young people. “Obiettivo Napoli”, in particular, is a multidisciplinary project, which involves 100 boys and girls, supported by 15 coaches and educators. It aims to combat violence, inequality and discrimination. Through sport this project has achieved significant successes in building a safer, fairer and more inclusive community. The sports played are football, basketball, volleyball and taekwondo, which encourage the development of life skills, teamwork, discipline and communication.
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