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CNN
22-04-2025
- Sport
- CNN
Simone Biles, Mondo Duplantis win big at 25th Laureus World Sports Awards
Paris Olympians and Paralympians were the big winners of the 25th anniversary Laureus World Sports Awards in Madrid, including superstars Simone Biles and Armand 'Mondo' Duplantis. The Laureus Awards, co-hosted this year by CNN Sports' Amanda Davies, honor sports' biggest athletes and those using sport for good. And this edition of the awards were bigger than ever as Laureus celebrated 25 years of athletic feats. Biles, the most decorated gymnast of all time, received her fourth Sportswoman of the Year Award after adding three golds and a silver medal to her resume at her third Olympics this past summer. The American tied tennis legend Serena Williams as the only athletes to receive the Sportswoman of the Year award four times. 'I won this Award for the first time in 2017 and Laureus has been a part of my story since then, and I share their belief that sport has the power to change the world,' Biles said of her record night. 'That might be a little girl watching someone like me on television and deciding she can do it, too. Or it could be the incredible work Laureus Sport for Good has undertaken for the past 25 years, all over the world.' Swedish poler-vaulter Duplantis became only the second track-and-field athlete, after four-time winner Usain Bolt, to receive the Sportsman of the Year award. The 25-year-old broke his own world record to secure his second Olympic gold medal and become the first men's pole vaulter to win back-to-back golds since Bob Richards in 1956. 'The Laureus Awards are the ultimate awards that we athletes want to win. I know because this is the fourth time I have been nominated – and that proves it's harder to win a Laureus than an Olympic gold medal!' Duplantis joked. 'I'm following in the footsteps of giants like Novak (Djokovic), Usain, Rafael Nadal and Lionel Messi. The list of past winners of this Award is like a history of sporting greatness over the past 25 years.' Other highlights of the event in Madrid included Biles' friend and rival Rebeca Andrade winning the Comeback of the Year Award. The Brazilian considered quitting the sport after suffering her third ACL tear in four years. However, she came back and competed in her third Olympics in Paris – earning a gold, two silvers and a bronze – to become the most decorated Brazilian Olympian of all time. Her gold medal moment led to one of the most iconic photos of the Olympics, with Simone Biles and Jordan Chiles bowing down to Andrade on the podium. 'Individual sports can be isolating, but Paris showed that camaraderie can exist between competitors, and I was so proud to compete alongside last year's winner of this Award, Simone Biles,' Andrade said after the win. 'Simone and I are the only two gymnasts to win a Laureus Award and I hope our stories can inspire anyone who has experienced injuries and setbacks to keep fighting through the many obstacles placed in front of them on the long road to recovery.' Later on, despite Real Madrid coming away winners of the Team of the Year award, it was rival Barcelona's teen phenom Lamine Yamal who received the Breakthrough of the Year Award. At only 16 years old, the Spaniard became the youngest player and goalscorer in European Championship history. He then rang in his birthday by becoming the youngest to play in a Euros final the day after turning 17. The Laureus Awards are not just about honoring the biggest athletes, but those who are using sport to make positive changes in society. This year's Sport for Good Award went to Kick4Life, an organization started in 2005 focused on using football to reach at-risk youth in Lesotho. All in all, it was a massive evening to celebrate sport with the world's biggest athletes and sport gamechangers present in Madrid. Sportsman of the Year Award: Mondo Duplantis Sportswoman of the Year Award: Simone Biles Team of the Year Award: Real Madrid Breakthrough of the Year Award: Lamine Yamal Comeback of the Year Award: Rebeca Andrade Sportsperson of the Year with a Disability Award: Jiang Yuyan Action Sportsperson of the Year Award: Tom Pidcock Sport for Good Award: Kick4Life Sporting Icon Award: Rafael Nadal Lifetime Achievement Award: Kelly Slater
CNN
22-04-2025
- Sport
- CNN
Simone Biles, Mondo Duplantis win big at 25th Laureus World Sports Awards
Paris Olympians and Paralympians were the big winners of the 25th anniversary Laureus World Sports Awards in Madrid, including superstars Simone Biles and Armand 'Mondo' Duplantis. The Laureus Awards, co-hosted this year by CNN Sports' Amanda Davies, honor sports' biggest athletes and those using sport for good. And this edition of the awards were bigger than ever as Laureus celebrated 25 years of athletic feats. Biles, the most decorated gymnast of all time, received her fourth Sportswoman of the Year Award after adding three golds and a silver medal to her resume at her third Olympics this past summer. The American tied tennis legend Serena Williams as the only athletes to receive the Sportswoman of the Year award four times. 'I won this Award for the first time in 2017 and Laureus has been a part of my story since then, and I share their belief that sport has the power to change the world,' Biles said of her record night. 'That might be a little girl watching someone like me on television and deciding she can do it, too. Or it could be the incredible work Laureus Sport for Good has undertaken for the past 25 years, all over the world.' Swedish poler-vaulter Duplantis became only the second track-and-field athlete, after four-time winner Usain Bolt, to receive the Sportsman of the Year award. The 25-year-old broke his own world record to secure his second Olympic gold medal and become the first men's pole vaulter to win back-to-back golds since Bob Richards in 1956. 'The Laureus Awards are the ultimate awards that we athletes want to win. I know because this is the fourth time I have been nominated – and that proves it's harder to win a Laureus than an Olympic gold medal!' Duplantis joked. 'I'm following in the footsteps of giants like Novak (Djokovic), Usain, Rafael Nadal and Lionel Messi. The list of past winners of this Award is like a history of sporting greatness over the past 25 years.' Other highlights of the event in Madrid included Biles' friend and rival Rebeca Andrade winning the Comeback of the Year Award. The Brazilian considered quitting the sport after suffering her third ACL tear in four years. However, she came back and competed in her third Olympics in Paris – earning a gold, two silvers and a bronze – to become the most decorated Brazilian Olympian of all time. Her gold medal moment led to one of the most iconic photos of the Olympics, with Simone Biles and Jordan Chiles bowing down to Andrade on the podium. 'Individual sports can be isolating, but Paris showed that camaraderie can exist between competitors, and I was so proud to compete alongside last year's winner of this Award, Simone Biles,' Andrade said after the win. 'Simone and I are the only two gymnasts to win a Laureus Award and I hope our stories can inspire anyone who has experienced injuries and setbacks to keep fighting through the many obstacles placed in front of them on the long road to recovery.' Later on, despite Real Madrid coming away winners of the Team of the Year award, it was rival Barcelona's teen phenom Lamine Yamal who received the Breakthrough of the Year Award. At only 16 years old, the Spaniard became the youngest player and goalscorer in European Championship history. He then rang in his birthday by becoming the youngest to play in a Euros final the day after turning 17. The Laureus Awards are not just about honoring the biggest athletes, but those who are using sport to make positive changes in society. This year's Sport for Good Award went to Kick4Life, an organization started in 2005 focused on using football to reach at-risk youth in Lesotho. All in all, it was a massive evening to celebrate sport with the world's biggest athletes and sport gamechangers present in Madrid. Sportsman of the Year Award: Mondo Duplantis Sportswoman of the Year Award: Simone Biles Team of the Year Award: Real Madrid Breakthrough of the Year Award: Lamine Yamal Comeback of the Year Award: Rebeca Andrade Sportsperson of the Year with a Disability Award: Jiang Yuyan Action Sportsperson of the Year Award: Tom Pidcock Sport for Good Award: Kick4Life Sporting Icon Award: Rafael Nadal Lifetime Achievement Award: Kelly Slater
CNN
05-04-2025
- Entertainment
- CNN
Ilona Maher is ‘nothing but good' for rugby, says New Zealand star Ruby Tui
Ilona Maher is among the most popular rugby players, if not athletes, on the planet, and within her fan club happens to be someone who blazed a trail before her. Ruby Tui, a two-time Olympic medalist and Women's Rugby World Cup winner with New Zealand, has been watching closely as her American counterpart has taken rugby by storm, amassing legions of followers on social media. A little-known entity this time last year, Maher's popularity soared at the Paris Olympics, where she won bronze with Team USA. Her larger-than-life persona quickly made her the most followed rugby player on the internet, earning appearances on 'Dancing With the Stars' and the cover of Sports Illustrated's 'Swimsuit Edition.' For Tui, who spent time in the United States playing in the Premier Rugby Sevens competition, such success hasn't happened by chance. Rather, it's a consequence of the time that Maher invests on and off the rugby field. 'People think she was just random or an accident,' Tui tells CNN Sports' Amanda Davies. 'Nah, that woman puts work into her rugby, that woman puts work into her branding. That whole USA team really does. 'I guess that's why I chose to have my sabbatical in the US. I was like, 'How do these guys know so much about just the entertainment world?' They're just world leaders at entertaining, and that's what sport is at the end of the day. 'I'm such a fan of her. I'm a fan of anyone who's willing to put the work in and step up for a cause that they truly believe in, that aligns with their values. And she's always been a vibe.' In four months, Maher and Tui could both be appearing on their sport's biggest stage at the Women's Rugby World Cup in England – Tui as a reigning champion with New Zealand and Maher as a first-timer with the US. The latter only recently switched from seven to 15-a-side rugby and spent the first part of this year with English team Bristol Bears Women, drawing a club record crowd on her first home appearance. The World Cup is now the next goal in the 28-year-old's burgeoning career. 'I can't wait for Ilona Maher to come over to the 15s game on a World Cup stage and see what kind of storm she can start,' says Tui. 'Like, let's go – I'm keen for all of it. I think more champions, more characters for the game is nothing but good.' Like Maher, Tui also made her name in rugby sevens, winning a silver at the 2016 Rio Olympics before upgrading to gold in Tokyo five years later. And like Maher, she too has achieved internet stardom, delivering an iconic speech after the 2022 World Cup final and leading the 45,000-strong Auckland crowd in song. Soon after, Tui would give her winner's medal to a young fan who had recently recovered from leukemia and was dreaming of playing for New Zealand. That offered just a brief snapshot into the warmth and generosity of an athlete who constantly inspires, though Tui's bubbly, eccentric exterior belies her challenging and often traumatic journey to the top of international rugby. Her father was an alcoholic, while her mother, separately, was in an abusive relationship, eventually leading Tui to find a home at a women's refuge. Not afraid to speak about her difficult childhood, Tui can empathize with others going through what she calls 'dark, dark times.' With that in mind, she is supporting a new campaign by Bupa and New Zealand Rugby – 'Human After All: The Alternative Team Photo' – which is about normalizing health conversations worldwide. 'All I can say is, the journeys you get through and the mountains you climb transform into your purpose and your reason for giving back,' says Tui. 'I've just seen nothing but good things come from being vulnerable, being open to it. I think that's why this campaign is so important because we are seen as these physically superior rugby machines, but the truth is, we're human as well.' Today, Tui is grateful for the way that sport changed the course of her life. She is currently focused on playing for Chiefs Manawa in Super Rugby Aupiki – the top-flight of women's rugby union in New Zealand – and leads the competition's try-scoring charts with five. Beyond that, she might be helping the Black Ferns to defend their Women's World Cup title in England later this year. Tui's spot on the team is not guaranteed, but even the mention of inspiring her country to a third-consecutive World Cup crown gets her in a feverish state of anticipation. 'That sounds juicy when you say it like that,' says Tui. 'That sounds like some sort of heavenly dish you get once in your life kind of thing.' It would be a full-circle moment of sorts for the explosive winger, who remembers watching on TV in 2010 as New Zealand won a fourth-straight World Cup against England at Twickenham, where this year's final will also be held. 'Just imprinted in my brain was the huge accomplishment of the Black Ferns, and how super power the Black Ferns were,' says Tui. 'And I just remember thinking, 'Why are these guys not at sold-out stadiums? Why doesn't every young girl want to be in this team? This team's amazing.'' To win again this year, New Zealand will have to overcome a dominant and near-unstoppable England team, which hasn't lost since that World Cup final defeat against New Zealand three years ago. Tui acknowledges that the Red Roses are 'well out in front' of their rivals at the moment and 'setting the benchmark' in the women's game. But she is also hopeful that an upset at this year's tournament could earn the Black Ferns another visit to the British royal family at Buckingham Palace. The team's last visit ahead of a game against England six months ago took a comical turn when some of the players shirked royal protocol and hugged King Charles, who jokingly said that he had been 'flattened by the scrum.' 'That was sensational, that was just so out of the blue,' Tui says of meeting Charles, adding that she would love to see him embrace this year's tournament, especially with the final being held just a few miles west of Buckingham Palace. 'I hope he gets amongst it,' she says. 'He's got a really big backyard, he could probably set up a big screen or something, invite all his royal mates around and have a real good time with it, if they don't want to come to the games.' Two visits to the king's residence in the space of a year would be a sure sign that people are starting to sit up and take notice of the Black Ferns – just as Tui always dreamed they would.
CNN
03-04-2025
- Sport
- CNN
With some athletes ‘suffering financially,' Michael Johnson hopes his new league can bring value to track and field
Michael Johnson wants to make one thing clear: track doesn't need saving. But he does think it needs improving. For Johnson and many others, we are reminded of the sport's potential once every four years when, for a brief, two-week window, athletes compete for status and legacy at the Summer Olympic Games. In that moment, track and field is suddenly the most popular show on the planet, the short-lived center of the sporting universe. It's what happens over the next four years that the sprinter-turned-commissioner has concerns about. 'That's the void that has existed in the sport,' Johnson tells CNN Sports' Amanda Davies, 'and we're filling it with Grand Slam Track.' Spearheaded by the four-time Olympic champion, Grand Slam Track hosts its inaugural event in Kingston, Jamaica on Friday – the first of four meets taking place across the next three months. The league has attracted some of the biggest names in the sport, including American Olympic champions Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, Gabby Thomas, Cole Hocker and Quincy Hall. Athletes signing up for Grand Slam Track have been promised regular, meaningful races against their fiercest rivals, as well as more prize money than the sport has ever offered before. The 48 racers contracted by the league each receive an annual base salary for competing in the four meets over the course of the season, while $12.6 million in prize money is also on offer. That ranges from $100,000 for winning a slam to $10,000 for placing last. By contrast, in the Diamond League – the sport's established annual series of track and field meets – athletes receive $10,000 for winning an event and $1,000 for placing eighth. 'Most of the athletes suffer greatly because they aren't able to realize any value,' says Johnson, best remembered for winning 200-meter and 400-meter gold medals at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta. 'Those athletes end up in situations where, many years later, and sometimes even in their careers, they're wondering: 'Should I have made this choice? I love this sport, but I'm suffering financially, I'm suffering mentally trying to make a living in this sport. I'm having to rely on friends and family to help.'' The debut Grand Slam Track season will see 48 contracted racers, who are among the world's top athletes, and 48 challengers, selected on an event-by-event basis, competing in six event groups: short and long sprints, short and long hurdles, and short and long distance. Each athlete is assigned to an event group and will compete in two disciplines at every meet. Short sprinters, for example, will race in the 100 and 200 meters, and long sprinters in the 200 and 400 meters. Points are earned based on an athlete's finishing position in a race, and whoever has the most points across the two races at a meet is crowned the winner of an event group. 'That creates some significant narratives and jeopardy, which is what fans told us they want,' says Johnson. 'They want to see the athletes more. They also want to see some jeopardy and some stakes.' With the contracted racers guaranteed to appear at every event, Grand Slam Track hopes to showcase the sport's top athletes more regularly, beyond the Olympics and the biennial World Athletics Championships. But there are significant absentees from the roster, including the likes of Sha'Carri Richardson, Jakob Ingebrigtsen, Karsten Warholm and Femke Bol. Notably, the two reigning Olympic 100m champions – Noah Lyles and Julien Alfred – have not signed up, and the league only features track – and not field – disciplines, meaning there is no place for superstar pole vaulter Mondo Duplantis. However, those who have joined are encouraged by the league's approach, particularly when it comes to compensating athletes. 'I've never had a base salary from a series of races before, that's entirely novel,' American distance runner Grant Fisher tells CNN Sports. 'For distance runners and for sprinters, pretty much anyone in track, your main source of income is from a shoe company – that'd be your main sponsor. 'You might get an appearance fee at a race here and there, but unless you're a superstar, you're probably not getting money to show up places. Whereas with Grand Slam, you have an incentive to show up, and then you have a huge incentive to race well. The prize purse is unlike anything this sport has ever seen … It's a massive shift.' Fisher, a two-time Olympic bronze medalist who recently broke two indoor world records, will compete in the 3,000 and 5,000 meters – the long distance event group – as a contracted racer at this season's four meets. He won't be up against all his big rivals, such as two-time Olympic champion Ingebrigtsen, but still feels that Grand Slam Track is the platform he needs to elevate his career. 'I want to race the best guys as often as possible, and I want to be the best runner in the world,' says Fisher. 'In order to have that title, I need to beat the best guys in the world consistently. 'It's a cool format, it's new. It gives fans something to follow with continuity, and I'm excited to be part of it. When they approached me, probably not great negotiation tactics, but I was kind of already sold on joining … They really didn't have to win me over too much.' This season's races will be broadcast in 189 countries and territories, with Peacock and The CW serving as broadcasters in the US, Eurosport in Europe and Asia, and TNT Sports in the UK and Ireland. Both Eurosport and TNT Sports are sister companies of CNN under the Warner Bros. Discovery umbrella. Inside Kingston's National Stadium, the track has already been painted in the green, yellow and black of Jamaica's flag in anticipation of the league's opening event. The next three meets will be in the US – Miami, Philadelphia and Los Angeles – which Johnson says will serve a huge market for track and field, though one with few elite races to show for it. The 57-year-old insists that Grand Slam Track is not trying to usurp the likes of World Athletics, the sport's global governing, and the Diamond League, which holds most of its events in Europe. 'We're a different product,' he says, adding that he has 'a great relationship' with World Athletics and its president, Sebastian Coe. In turn, Coe has welcomed Johnson's league, taking comfort in the 'luster' and 'investment' being injected into the sport. Grand Slam Track only has plans to grow and, according to Johnson, has been contacted by cities interested in hosting future meets. 'This is a journey for us, and we're in it for the long haul,' he says. 'We're not going anywhere.' For athletes like Fisher, who faces the demanding prospect of racing two distance events in three days this week, Grand Slam Track will ostensibly feel the same as other races he has competed in, and his targets for the season-opener in Kingston are simple. 'The only goal is to win,' he says. 'If I can consistently win these Slams, then that's a really good sign for where I am in my career.'
CNN
29-03-2025
- Sport
- CNN
Aged 15, New Zealander Sam Ruthe has already run a four-minute mile. He would ‘love to try and qualify' for the 2028 Olympics
Sam Ruthe had the eyes of thousands on him when he stepped onto a running track in Auckland just over a week ago. Undaunted by the occasion, Ruthe went on to become the first 15-year-old to run a sub-four-minute mile, even managing a nonchalant shrug of the shoulders as he crossed the finish line. The race was almost entirely engineered for the high school student to break the fabled four-minute barrier – a feat first achieved by Roger Bannister more than 70 years ago – but the weight of running history was a burden that Ruthe seemed to bear lightly. The first three laps, he later said in a video documenting the race, 'felt pretty comfortable – nothing too crazy.' Perhaps the most intimidating part of his achievement occurred when Ruthe returned to school the next day, only to be immediately called into the principal's office. 'He's like, 'Alright, so you're gonna have to go up on stage and we'll get the whole school to clap you,'' Ruthe tells CNN Sports' Patrick Snell. 'It was really scary, actually. I headed into class and everyone thought I was famous.' It's easy to forget, given his history-making performance last week, that Ruthe is like most other 15-year-olds in New Zealand. He goes to school, spends time with his friends, and helps with chores around the house. He also just happens to be one of the most exciting middle-distance runners on the planet, one of the latest star athletes to emerge from sports-mad New Zealand. 'Every morning I come downstairs and he's already done the dishwasher, he's already packed his lunch, and he's ready to go,' Ruthe's father, Ben, tells CNN Sports. 'He's just a disciplined kid. He goes to bed early, he looks after himself, he eats well, he looks after his sister. He's just a good kid around the house in all ways, really. We're very lucky.' Ruthe is next due to compete in the 1,500 meters at the Maurie Plant Meet in Melbourne on Saturday, and one target time to aim for will be his dad's fastest time of 3:41.22 – three hundredths of a second faster than Ruthe's current personal best. But he still has a way to go before he can call himself the most decorated runner in his family. Dad Ben and mom Jess are both former national champions who represented New Zealand on the world stage, while his maternal grandparents won European championship medals for Great Britain. His grandmother, Rosemary Stirling, arguably had the most impressive achievement: an 800m Commonwealth Games title from 1970. Despite his family pedigree, Ruthe was never under any pressure to take running seriously. His parents, in fact, didn't allow him or his sister Daisy to train at all until they were 13, never wanting their identities to be tied solely to running. 'It feels like it's the right decision about now,' says Ben. But as he gradually starts to realize his potential, Ruthe, when pushed, admits to having big goals in the sport. 'If I had to pick one thing, definitely Olympic gold,' he says. 'I feel like that's most runners' dream and the biggest thing you can actually win. So that'll definitely be the top of my bucket list.' The 2032 Olympics in Brisbane, Ruthe adds, would be a nice target. And as for the Los Angeles Games in three years' time? 'I'd actually love to try and qualify for LA 28,' he says. 'I feel like that'll be a tough goal. But if I do that, I'll be really happy.' Already, Ruthe's name is being mentioned in the same breath as Norway's Jakob Ingebrigtsen, the most successful middle-distance of this generation. It was his record as the youngest-ever four-minute miler that Ruthe took last week, and the New Zealander also beat Ingebrigtsen's 1,500m record for a 15-year-old earlier this year. Ingebrigtsen's success, Ruthe says, has given him hope that he too can 'have a good future' in the sport. But his biggest source of motivation comes not from the two-time Olympic champion, but from those closest to him – his training group led by coach Craig Kirkwood and athlete Sam Tanner. The pair were instrumental in Ruthe's recent mile time of 3:58.35, and it was five-time national champion Tanner who paced him perfectly around four laps of the track on his way to the record. To show his gratitude, Ruthe is auctioning off the shoes he wore for the four-minute mile to raise funds for Kirkwood, Tanner and their youth development group, with the highest bid currently standing at NZ$10,000 (just over $5,700). For his father, it's a source of huge pride that Ruthe is unwilling to forget those who have helped him on his journey – something demonstrated by a readiness to part with the record-setting running shoes. 'To see my son be able to give away probably his most valuable possession in the world to help those around him?' says Ben. 'It means a lot to me.'
