Latest news with #LaureusAcademy
Scoop
21-04-2025
- Sport
- Scoop
World's Greatest Athletes Celebrated As Simone Biles, Mondo Duplantis, Real Madrid & Lamine Yamal Are Among The Winners
Press Release – Laureus Madrid became the capital city of sport tonight as the Laureus World Sports Awards celebrated its 25th anniversary by gathering the greatest athletes not only of the past 12 months, but of the 21st Century. Sport's most prestigious Awards brings the biggest stars in the world together in Madrid, seen by global audience of millions Olympic gymnastics superstars Simone Biles and Rebeca Andrade share stage – Biles equals record with fourth Sportswoman of the Year Award, Andrade takes Comeback of the Year Mondo Duplantis named Sportsman of the Year after second pole vault gold and multiple world records Real Madrid Team of the Year after a Champions League – La Liga double Barcelona's teenage sensation Lamine Yamal wins Laureus World Breakthrough of the Year Award after leading Spain to Euro 2024 glory Mountain biker Tom Pidcock named Laureus World Action Sportsperson of the Year Awards voted for by the ultimate sporting jury – the 69 former champions of the Laureus Academy, 25 years after its foundation at the inaugural Laureus World Sports Awards. To access the Laureus World Sports Awards media portal, click here. MADRID, April 21, 2025 – Madrid became the capital city of sport tonight as the Laureus World Sports Awards celebrated its 25th anniversary by gathering the greatest athletes not only of the past 12 months, but of the 21st Century. Simone Biles and Rebecca Andrade – friends, rivals and Olympic champions from the world of gymnastics – were both winners here; both sides of Spanish football's great duopoly were represented on the winners' podium, as Real Madrid and Barcelona's Lamine Yamal were honoured; and Olympic and Paralympic heroes including Mondo Duplantis, Tom Pidcock and Jijang Yuan added a Laureus to their laurels. Standing alongside the world's greatest athletes were leaders from the inspirational Lesotho-based football programme Kick4Life, recipients of the 2025 Laureus Sport for Good Award. 25 years after the inaugural Laureus World Sports Awards were held in Monaco in 2000, this special anniversary edition of the greatest show in sports was also a celebration of the growth of Laureus as a unique sporting movement – encompassing the world-famous Awards and the year-round work of Laureus Sport for Good in over 40 countries. The Awards evening launched a multi-media wave of posts, coverage and broadcast around the world, as athletes, media and bloggers reacted to this year's winners – each presented with 'The Laureus' – the coveted statuette awarded to the winner in each category and the prize the greatest athletes in the world value above all other Awards – voted on by the 69 sporting legends of the Laureus World Sports Academy. And this year that body awarded two additional statuettes, honouring 22-time Grand Slam tennis champion Rafael Nadal and Kelly Slater, an 11-time world champion in surfing. The Olympic and Paralympic Games were at the heart of the sporting year in 2024 – and this year's list of Laureus winners includes several athletes who added a Laureus to their collection of gold. It was fourth time lucky for the greatest pole-vaulter of all-time, Mondo Duplantis. He was awarded the Laureus World Sportsman of the Year Award after being nominated in each of the last three years and is the second track-and-field athlete to win this Award, after four-time winner Usain Bolt. Still just 25 years old, the Swede shows no signs of loosening his grip over the competition following another historic year. After winning his second World Indoor Championship gold medal in March, Duplantis broke his own world record for a remarkable ninth time in 2024 on the way to gold in Paris, before shattering it again at the Silesia Diamond League meeting the following month. Duplantis received his Award from last year's winner, Novak Djokovic. Laureus World Sportsman of the Year, Mondo Duplantis: ' I am incredibly honoured to have won my first Laureus World Sportsman of the Year Award in the sporting capital of Madrid and to have the great Usain Bolt pay tribute to me, who I follow as the second track and field athlete to win this Award. ' 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! ' I'll never forget receiving this beautiful Laureus from the great Novak Djokovic – I'm following in the footsteps of giants like Novak, 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. ' The Laureus Awards represent something more than sporting achievement. The fact that they are voted on by the 69 world-class athletes of the Laureus World Sports Academy elevates them to another level. These are athletes who know the dedication and commitment that lies behind sporting successes; they have set the mark that athletes like me strive for. To be recognised by them is truly something special. ' Finally, I must also acknowledge Laureus' broader mission of using sport as a vehicle for change in the world. The work of Laureus Sport for Good has transformed lives around the world and – as the Awards celebrate its 25th anniversary – it is important to reflect on the enormous legacy that it has created. It's a legacy I am proud to be a part of. ' Simone Biles' breathtaking displays in the French capital saw her named Laureus World Sportswoman of the Year for the fourth time, equalling the record held by tennis great and compatriot Serena Williams – they both also have one Comeback of the Year Award. Biles called the Paris Games her 'redemption tour' after taking a break from the sport, and the most decorated gymnast in history produced a stunning performance, picking up three golds and a silver. One year after winning that Comeback of the Year Award, her redemption is complete. Laureus World Sportswoman of the Year, Simone Biles: 'I'm so happy to be here in Madrid and to receive my fourth Laureus World Sportswoman of the Year Award. ' 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. 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. ' I'd like to thank the legendary members of the Laureus World Sports Academy, who vote for the winners. It must be an almost impossible job, but their unique personal experiences of sport at the highest level gives them an understanding of what it takes to be the very best. Their generation has inspired us athletes standing here before you. That is why the Laureus Awards truly are the 'Athletes Awards' and I am proud to have added to my 'Laureus' collection. ' Brazilian gymnast Rebeca Andrade completed her inspirational return from career-threatening injuries at the Paris Games, and she is this year's recipient of the Laureus World Comeback of the Year Award. Andrade considered quitting the sport in the wake of a series of soul-crushing injuries – including three anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries – and agonising rehabilitations. Her long road back to the top was complete when she won gold in the floor competition – a moment memorialised forever by the image of her long-time rival Biles bowing to her as she stood at the top of the podium. Laureus World Comeback of the Year Award winner, Rebeca Andrade, said: ' This beautiful Laureus Statuette represents a huge amount of hard work, of struggle and pain, and also great happiness and one of my most cherished memories – standing on top of the Olympic podium again. ' In the 25-year history of these Awards that have become the ultimate prize for athletes, these stories of resilience have inspired generations of young people. Previous winners of the Comeback of the Year have included some of the greatest athletes of all time, from my fellow Brazilian, Ronaldo, to Simone last year. ' And just as our stories reach every corner of the world, we stand here alongside Laureus Sport for Good as they bring together projects from across the globe which use sport to improve the lives of children and young people. ' 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. 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. ' Tom Pidcock is the Laureus World Action Sportsperson of the Year after winning the Olympic mountain bike cross country title in unforgettable fashion. His hopes of defending the title he won in Tokyo appeared all but over after suffering a puncture, but after changing wheels, the British rider staged a stirring fightback to reel in leader and home favourite Victor Koretsky before pulling off a daring late overtake in trees to win gold against the odds. Pidcock is the fourth British cyclist to win the Action Sportsperson of the Year Award, following Jamie Bestwick (2014), Rachel Atherton (2017) and Beth Shriver (2022). Paralympic swimming superstar Jiang Yuyan collected the Laureus World Sportsperson of the Year with a Disability Award. Yuyan was the most decorated athlete at the 2024 Paralympic Games, winning seven para swimming golds from seven events in the pool, matching the feat of Laureus Academy Member Mark Spitz. The 19-year-old also set two individual world records and was honoured as the flagbearer for the Chinese team at the closing ceremony. She is the seventh Chinese winner of a Laureus after Yao Ming (Breakthrough 2003, Spirit of Sport 2015), Liu Xiang (Breakthrough, 2005), China Olympic Team (Team, 2009), Li Na (Exceptional Achievement, 2015), Xia Boyu (Sporting Moment, 2019) and Eileen Gu (Action, 2023). Teen sensation Lamine Yamal was the recipient of the Laureus World Breakthrough of the Year Award after emerging as one of football's global superstars. As part of the Spain team which won Euro 2024, he became the youngest player to score in the European Championships as well as the youngest to feature in the final and was named Best Young Player of the tournament. He is only the second footballer to win this Award, after Jude Bellingham, the Real Madrid midfielder who won it last year. Bellingham did not go unrecognised tonight, either. Real Madrid are quite simply a winning machine and were honoured with the Laureus World Team of the Year Award after a season in which they won La Liga for a record 36th time, delivered a 15th UEFA Champions League/European Cup title, and defeated rivals Barcelona 4-1 in the Supercopa de España. The club continued to sweep aside all before them at the beginning of the 2024-25 season, winning both the UEFA Super Cup and Intercontinental Cup, an achievement which saw Carlo Ancelotti become Madrid's most decorated manager. For 25 years, the Laureus World Sports Awards have seen the greatest athletes in the world share the stage with Laureus Sport for Good programmes that fulfil the mission defined by the founding patron of Laureus at the first Awards: to use the power of sport to change the world. Kick4Life is one of over 300 Laureus Sport for Good projects all over the world making a difference in their communities, and they were presented with this year's Laureus Sport for Good Award in Madrid. Kick4Life uses football to reach at-risk children in Lesotho, promoting health education, life-skills development, gender rights and employability. The inspirational organisation, which was also nominated for this Award in 2022, has reached more than 250,000 young people since it was founded in 2005. Nominees for the Laureus World Sports Awards are decided by the world's media, and the winners are voted on by the 69 members of the Laureus World Sports Academy – the ultimate sporting jury. This year the Academy also included two discretionary Awards. Rafael Nadal received the Laureus Sporting Icon Award after a year in which he announced the end of one of the greatest careers in the history of professional tennis. A celebratory video package of his career was specially voiced by Morgan Freeman, who included his own tribute to the Spaniard. This year's Awards expands on Nadal's 'Laureus Slam' – he is the only athlete to have won the Sportsman of the Year Award, the Comeback of the Year, the Breakthrough of the Year and the Laureus Sport for Good Award. Rafael Nadal, said: 'The Laureus World Sports Awards are important to me. Back in 2006 I won the Laureus World Breakthrough of the Year Award in Barcelona, in front of sporting heroes who had inspired millions of people around the world. Then last year – after twice being named Sportsman of the Year and also winning Comeback of the Year – my foundation was honoured to win the Laureus Sport for Good Award, here in Madrid.' 'My retirement from competitive tennis made 2024 an emotional year for me where there were some magical moments like the one in Paris carrying the Olympic torch. Tennis and sports in general has given me so much; my drive has always been to compete and try my best every time I stepped on court. Competitive tennis has stopped and it is time to reflect and to appreciate all the support I receive from everyone – my friends and family, my fans, my fellow athletes –. 'A Sporting Icon? I think that is for other people to decide. But I hope that my career has inspired sports fans beyond tennis. I gave it everything I had. As athletes, we have a unique opportunity to use our influence and inspiration to make a positive impact on the world and as I move into my next chapter, I'm going to hold on to the ideals that I share with Laureus and work with them to achieve the most important thing an athlete can do – changing the world through sport.' And Kelly Slater, widely considered the greatest surfer of all time, received the Laureus Lifetime Achievement Award. Slater is a four-time winner of the Laureus World Action Sportsperson of the Year Award and an 11-time World Surf League champion. The full list of Winners is: Laureus World Sportsman of the Year Award: Mondo Duplantis Laureus World Sportswoman of the Year Award: Simone Biles Laureus World Team of the Year Award: Real Madrid Laureus World Breakthrough of the Year Award: Lamine Yamal Laureus World Comeback of the Year Award: Rebeca Andrade Laureus World Sportsperson of the Year with a Disability Award: Jiang Yuyan Laureus World Action Sportsperson of the Year Award: Tom Pidcock Laureus Sport for Good Award: Kick4Life Laureus Lifetime Achievement Award: Kelly Slater
Scoop
21-04-2025
- Sport
- Scoop
World's Greatest Athletes Celebrated As Simone Biles, Mondo Duplantis, Real Madrid & Lamine Yamal Are Among The Winners
Sport's most prestigious Awards brings the biggest stars in the world together in Madrid, seen by global audience of millions Olympic gymnastics superstars Simone Biles and Rebeca Andrade share stage – Biles equals record with fourth Sportswoman of the Year Award, Andrade takes Comeback of the Year Mondo Duplantis named Sportsman of the Year after second pole vault gold and multiple world records Real Madrid Team of the Year after a Champions League – La Liga double Barcelona's teenage sensation Lamine Yamal wins Laureus World Breakthrough of the Year Award after leading Spain to Euro 2024 glory Mountain biker Tom Pidcock named Laureus World Action Sportsperson of the Year Awards voted for by the ultimate sporting jury – the 69 former champions of the Laureus Academy, 25 years after its foundation at the inaugural Laureus World Sports Awards. To access the Laureus World Sports Awards media portal, click here. MADRID, April 21, 2025 – Madrid became the capital city of sport tonight as the Laureus World Sports Awards celebrated its 25th anniversary by gathering the greatest athletes not only of the past 12 months, but of the 21st Century. Simone Biles and Rebecca Andrade – friends, rivals and Olympic champions from the world of gymnastics – were both winners here; both sides of Spanish football's great duopoly were represented on the winners' podium, as Real Madrid and Barcelona's Lamine Yamal were honoured; and Olympic and Paralympic heroes including Mondo Duplantis, Tom Pidcock and Jijang Yuan added a Laureus to their laurels. Standing alongside the world's greatest athletes were leaders from the inspirational Lesotho-based football programme Kick4Life, recipients of the 2025 Laureus Sport for Good Award. 25 years after the inaugural Laureus World Sports Awards were held in Monaco in 2000, this special anniversary edition of the greatest show in sports was also a celebration of the growth of Laureus as a unique sporting movement – encompassing the world-famous Awards and the year-round work of Laureus Sport for Good in over 40 countries. The Awards evening launched a multi-media wave of posts, coverage and broadcast around the world, as athletes, media and bloggers reacted to this year's winners – each presented with 'The Laureus' - the coveted statuette awarded to the winner in each category and the prize the greatest athletes in the world value above all other Awards – voted on by the 69 sporting legends of the Laureus World Sports Academy. And this year that body awarded two additional statuettes, honouring 22-time Grand Slam tennis champion Rafael Nadal and Kelly Slater, an 11-time world champion in surfing. The Olympic and Paralympic Games were at the heart of the sporting year in 2024 – and this year's list of Laureus winners includes several athletes who added a Laureus to their collection of gold. It was fourth time lucky for the greatest pole-vaulter of all-time, Mondo Duplantis. He was awarded the Laureus World Sportsman of the Year Award after being nominated in each of the last three years and is the second track-and-field athlete to win this Award, after four-time winner Usain Bolt. Still just 25 years old, the Swede shows no signs of loosening his grip over the competition following another historic year. After winning his second World Indoor Championship gold medal in March, Duplantis broke his own world record for a remarkable ninth time in 2024 on the way to gold in Paris, before shattering it again at the Silesia Diamond League meeting the following month. Duplantis received his Award from last year's winner, Novak Djokovic. Laureus World Sportsman of the Year, Mondo Duplantis: ' I am incredibly honoured to have won my first Laureus World Sportsman of the Year Award in the sporting capital of Madrid and to have the great Usain Bolt pay tribute to me, who I follow as the second track and field athlete to win this Award. ' 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! ' I'll never forget receiving this beautiful Laureus from the great Novak Djokovic – I'm following in the footsteps of giants like Novak, 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. ' The Laureus Awards represent something more than sporting achievement. The fact that they are voted on by the 69 world-class athletes of the Laureus World Sports Academy elevates them to another level. These are athletes who know the dedication and commitment that lies behind sporting successes; they have set the mark that athletes like me strive for. To be recognised by them is truly something special. ' Finally, I must also acknowledge Laureus' broader mission of using sport as a vehicle for change in the world. The work of Laureus Sport for Good has transformed lives around the world and – as the Awards celebrate its 25th anniversary – it is important to reflect on the enormous legacy that it has created. It's a legacy I am proud to be a part of. ' Simone Biles' breathtaking displays in the French capital saw her named Laureus World Sportswoman of the Year for the fourth time, equalling the record held by tennis great and compatriot Serena Williams – they both also have one Comeback of the Year Award. Biles called the Paris Games her 'redemption tour' after taking a break from the sport, and the most decorated gymnast in history produced a stunning performance, picking up three golds and a silver. One year after winning that Comeback of the Year Award, her redemption is complete. Laureus World Sportswoman of the Year, Simone Biles: 'I'm so happy to be here in Madrid and to receive my fourth Laureus World Sportswoman of the Year Award. ' 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. 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. ' I'd like to thank the legendary members of the Laureus World Sports Academy, who vote for the winners. It must be an almost impossible job, but their unique personal experiences of sport at the highest level gives them an understanding of what it takes to be the very best. Their generation has inspired us athletes standing here before you. That is why the Laureus Awards truly are the 'Athletes Awards' and I am proud to have added to my 'Laureus' collection. ' Brazilian gymnast Rebeca Andrade completed her inspirational return from career-threatening injuries at the Paris Games, and she is this year's recipient of the Laureus World Comeback of the Year Award. Andrade considered quitting the sport in the wake of a series of soul-crushing injuries – including three anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries – and agonising rehabilitations. Her long road back to the top was complete when she won gold in the floor competition – a moment memorialised forever by the image of her long-time rival Biles bowing to her as she stood at the top of the podium. Laureus World Comeback of the Year Award winner, Rebeca Andrade, said: ' This beautiful Laureus Statuette represents a huge amount of hard work, of struggle and pain, and also great happiness and one of my most cherished memories – standing on top of the Olympic podium again. ' In the 25-year history of these Awards that have become the ultimate prize for athletes, these stories of resilience have inspired generations of young people. Previous winners of the Comeback of the Year have included some of the greatest athletes of all time, from my fellow Brazilian, Ronaldo, to Simone last year. ' And just as our stories reach every corner of the world, we stand here alongside Laureus Sport for Good as they bring together projects from across the globe which use sport to improve the lives of children and young people. ' 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. 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. ' Tom Pidcock is the Laureus World Action Sportsperson of the Year after winning the Olympic mountain bike cross country title in unforgettable fashion. His hopes of defending the title he won in Tokyo appeared all but over after suffering a puncture, but after changing wheels, the British rider staged a stirring fightback to reel in leader and home favourite Victor Koretsky before pulling off a daring late overtake in trees to win gold against the odds. Pidcock is the fourth British cyclist to win the Action Sportsperson of the Year Award, following Jamie Bestwick (2014), Rachel Atherton (2017) and Beth Shriver (2022). Paralympic swimming superstar Jiang Yuyan collected the Laureus World Sportsperson of the Year with a Disability Award. Yuyan was the most decorated athlete at the 2024 Paralympic Games, winning seven para swimming golds from seven events in the pool, matching the feat of Laureus Academy Member Mark Spitz. The 19-year-old also set two individual world records and was honoured as the flagbearer for the Chinese team at the closing ceremony. She is the seventh Chinese winner of a Laureus after Yao Ming (Breakthrough 2003, Spirit of Sport 2015), Liu Xiang (Breakthrough, 2005), China Olympic Team (Team, 2009), Li Na (Exceptional Achievement, 2015), Xia Boyu (Sporting Moment, 2019) and Eileen Gu (Action, 2023). Teen sensation Lamine Yamal was the recipient of the Laureus World Breakthrough of the Year Award after emerging as one of football's global superstars. As part of the Spain team which won Euro 2024, he became the youngest player to score in the European Championships as well as the youngest to feature in the final and was named Best Young Player of the tournament. He is only the second footballer to win this Award, after Jude Bellingham, the Real Madrid midfielder who won it last year. Bellingham did not go unrecognised tonight, either. Real Madrid are quite simply a winning machine and were honoured with the Laureus World Team of the Year Award after a season in which they won La Liga for a record 36th time, delivered a 15th UEFA Champions League/European Cup title, and defeated rivals Barcelona 4-1 in the Supercopa de España. The club continued to sweep aside all before them at the beginning of the 2024-25 season, winning both the UEFA Super Cup and Intercontinental Cup, an achievement which saw Carlo Ancelotti become Madrid's most decorated manager. For 25 years, the Laureus World Sports Awards have seen the greatest athletes in the world share the stage with Laureus Sport for Good programmes that fulfil the mission defined by the founding patron of Laureus at the first Awards: to use the power of sport to change the world. Kick4Life is one of over 300 Laureus Sport for Good projects all over the world making a difference in their communities, and they were presented with this year's Laureus Sport for Good Award in Madrid. Kick4Life uses football to reach at-risk children in Lesotho, promoting health education, life-skills development, gender rights and employability. The inspirational organisation, which was also nominated for this Award in 2022, has reached more than 250,000 young people since it was founded in 2005. Nominees for the Laureus World Sports Awards are decided by the world's media, and the winners are voted on by the 69 members of the Laureus World Sports Academy – the ultimate sporting jury. This year the Academy also included two discretionary Awards. Rafael Nadal received the Laureus Sporting Icon Award after a year in which he announced the end of one of the greatest careers in the history of professional tennis. A celebratory video package of his career was specially voiced by Morgan Freeman, who included his own tribute to the Spaniard. This year's Awards expands on Nadal's 'Laureus Slam' – he is the only athlete to have won the Sportsman of the Year Award, the Comeback of the Year, the Breakthrough of the Year and the Laureus Sport for Good Award. Rafael Nadal, said: 'The Laureus World Sports Awards are important to me. Back in 2006 I won the Laureus World Breakthrough of the Year Award in Barcelona, in front of sporting heroes who had inspired millions of people around the world. Then last year – after twice being named Sportsman of the Year and also winning Comeback of the Year – my foundation was honoured to win the Laureus Sport for Good Award, here in Madrid.' 'My retirement from competitive tennis made 2024 an emotional year for me where there were some magical moments like the one in Paris carrying the Olympic torch. Tennis and sports in general has given me so much; my drive has always been to compete and try my best every time I stepped on court. Competitive tennis has stopped and it is time to reflect and to appreciate all the support I receive from everyone – my friends and family, my fans, my fellow athletes –. 'A Sporting Icon? I think that is for other people to decide. But I hope that my career has inspired sports fans beyond tennis. I gave it everything I had. As athletes, we have a unique opportunity to use our influence and inspiration to make a positive impact on the world and as I move into my next chapter, I'm going to hold on to the ideals that I share with Laureus and work with them to achieve the most important thing an athlete can do – changing the world through sport.' And Kelly Slater, widely considered the greatest surfer of all time, received the Laureus Lifetime Achievement Award. Slater is a four-time winner of the Laureus World Action Sportsperson of the Year Award and an 11-time World Surf League champion. The full list of Winners is: Laureus World Sportsman of the Year Award: Mondo Duplantis Laureus World Sportswoman of the Year Award: Simone Biles Laureus World Team of the Year Award: Real Madrid Laureus World Breakthrough of the Year Award: Lamine Yamal Laureus World Comeback of the Year Award: Rebeca Andrade Laureus World Sportsperson of the Year with a Disability Award: Jiang Yuyan Laureus World Action Sportsperson of the Year Award: Tom Pidcock Laureus Sport for Good Award: Kick4Life Laureus Sporting Icon Award: Rafael Nadal Laureus Lifetime Achievement Award: Kelly Slater
Yahoo
03-03-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Olympic champs vie for ultimate award
Olympic gold medallists Arianne Titmus and Arisa Trew have both been heralded for their achievements in Paris and nominated among the superstars of world sport in the revered Laureus World Sport Awards. Their nominations come as the Laureus Academy removed Australian Open tennis winner Jannik Sinner's nomination from the list of those vying for the World Sportsman of the Year award in the wake of his three-month doping ban. Trew, the teenage skateboarding sensation who captured the world's attention by taking gold at the Paris Olympics at the tender age of 14, and then entranced sports fans further with her request for a pet duck as her reward, is going for back-to-back wins in the Action Sportsperson of the Year category. She was the youngest Australian Olympic gold medallist in history. Titmus has been nominated for the Comeback of the Year award after becoming the first woman this century to defend her 400m freestyle title in Paris having recovered from surgery to remove a tumour on her ovary. She also collected a further three medals at the Games, including gold in the 4x200m freestyle relay. 'For anyone that knows me, they'd know I'd give up anything in the world to be a mother. It's my biggest dream, so this was a scary time for me,' Titmus said of her ordeal after winning gold in Paris. 'Being an athlete is tough. Being a woman is tough. I've learned more about my body and what it is capable of.' Titmus will be vying against the likes of Indian cricket superstar Rishabh Pant, who suffered horrific injuries in a car crash before returning to international cricket, including last summer's Test series in Australia. The list of nominees for major awards reads like a who's who of sporting superstars, with Formula 1 world champ Max Verstappen nominated for World Sportsman of the Year. But he won't be competing with Italian world No.1 Sinner, whose nomination was withdrawn after he accepted a three-month ban from the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) having twice tested positive for the banned substance clostebol. 'Following discussions by the Laureus Academy it has been decided that Jannik Sinner's nomination for this year's Laureus Award is to be withdrawn,' a statement said. 'We have followed this case, the decisions of the relevant global bodies and, while we note the extenuating circumstances involved, feel that the three-month ban renders the nomination ineligible. Jannik and his team have been informed.'
Observer
28-02-2025
- Sport
- Observer
Sinner dropped from Laureus awards list
PARIS: Jannik Sinner had his nomination for the prestigious Laureus sportsman of the year award withdrawn on Thursday after he was banned for three months following two failed drugs tests, an official said. The world number one from Italy, who is the reigning US Open and Australian Open champion, twice tested positive for traces of the banned anabolic steroid clostebol in March last year. "Following discussions by the Laureus Academy it has been decided that Jannik Sinner's nomination for this year's Laureus World Sportsman of the Year Award is to be withdrawn," said the awards body chairman Sean Fitzpatrick, the former New Zealand rugby union great. "We have followed this case, the decisions of the relevant global bodies and — whilst we note the extenuating circumstances involved — feel that the three-month ban renders the nomination ineligible. "Jannik and his team have been informed." Earlier in February, the 23-year-old Sinner agreed to a three-month ban from tennis after admitting "partial responsibility" for team mistakes which led to him twice testing positive in March 2024. His suspension ends on May 4, allowing him to return in time for the French Open, the season's second Grand Slam event of the year. The Laureus awards have been offered annually since 2000 by a 69-strong jury comprised of sporting greats who make up the Laureus Academy. In 2024, fellow tennis star Novak Djokovic took the sportsman of the year award for a record fifth time. — AFP
Gulf Today
28-02-2025
- Sport
- Gulf Today
Medvedev squanders 4 match points, crashes out in Dubai
Former world number one Daniil Medvedev crashed out of the Dubai Championships on Thursday, squandering four match points before losing a bad-tempered quarter-final to Tallon Griekspoor of the Netherlands. The 47th-ranked Dutchman came through 2-6, 7-6 (9/7), 7-5 as the world number six imploded. Medvedev, the 2023 champion in Dubai, was handed a code violation for unsportsmanlike behaviour after seeing match points slip away in the second set. As his frustration boiled over, he accused umpire Adel Nour of applying 'double standards' with Russian players. Nour hit back, telling Medvedev that he treats all players in the same way, regardless of nationality before brushing away the top seed's complaints. Griekspoor kept his cool in the deciding set, taking victory on a fourth match point of his own. Medvedev refused to shake hands with Nour at the end of the tie. The 28-year-old Griekspoor, saved three match points to see off Roman Safiullin in the first round and then overcame defending champion Ugo Humbert. 'I'm super happy with this win,' said Griekspoor. 'Daniil is an unbelievable player, an unbelievable competitor. He's been at the top of the rankings for so many years, so I'm very pleased with this win. 'I was a little bit lucky on the match points down, and in the second-set tie-break. I even needed a few match points myself to finish this one off.' Canada's Felix Auger-Aliassime notched up a Tour-leading 15th win of the year, seeing off former US Open champion Marin Cilic 6-4, 3-6, 6-2 to reach his fourth semi-final of 2025. 'It's been a great start,' said 21st-ranked Auger-Aliassime who has already claimed titles at Adelaide and Montpellier this year. Auger-Aliassime will face French qualifier Quentin Halys who came back from a set and break down to defeat Italian lucky loser Luca Nardi 2-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7/5). Halys knocked out ninth-ranked former champion Andrey Rublev in the first round. Sinner dropped from Laureus awards: The Laureus Academy revoked tennis number one Jannik Sinner's nomination for its annual World Sportsman of the Year Award on Thursday, citing his three-month doping ban. Sinner, who accepted the ban earlier this month, had tested positive for anabolic agent clostebol which the 23-year-old said had entered his system from a member of his support team through massages and sports therapy. The ban will end on May 4. 'We have followed this case, the decisions of the relevant global bodies and - whilst we note the extenuating circumstances involved - feel that the three-month ban renders the nomination ineligible,' Laureus Academy Chairman Sean Fitzpatrick said in a letter addressed to nomination panel members. 'Jannik and his team have been informed.' The Laureus World Sports Awards have been presented since 2000, with nominees selected by the global media, recognising individual and team achievement in sport. The nominees for this year's awards will be announced on March 3 in Madrid. Sinner, who retained his Australian Open title last month, failed two drug tests in March 2024 but was allowed to keep competing while he appealed his case. The positive tests came to light days before the US Open, when an independent tribunal cleared him of wrongdoing, plunging the year's final major into controversy. A number of players and fans criticised officials for allowing Sinner to play on despite the positive tests and believed that the Italian had been given preferential treatment because of his top ranking status. In September, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) appealed to sports highest court (CAS) against an independent tribunal's ruling, which had cleared Sinner of any wrongdoing because it found he bore 'no fault or negligence' for the failed tests. WADA had said that finding was incorrect under the applicable rules, and that Sinner should serve a ban 'of between one and two years'. However, two weeks ago Sinner accepted an immediate three-month doping ban after WADA said it had reached a settlement on his period of ineligibility. WADA also withdrew its appeal to CAS following the settlement.
