Some of the world’s greatest sportsmen, sportswomen and teams are amongst the Nominees for the 22nd annual Laureus World Sport Awards, revealed today.

World-class athletes including former winners Rafael Nadal and Lewis Hamilton, US Open champion Naomi Osaka and basketball star LeBron James are all in contention for a prestigious Laureus Statuette.

Voted for by the world’s sports media, the Laureus Awards will be announced in May as part of a ‘Virtual’ Awards event aimed at not only celebrating the highest sporting achievement but also honouring those whose actions have transcended the court, track or field of play.

Former winners Lewis Hamilton and Rafael Nadal have been nominated again for the Laureus World Sportsman of the Year Award. In 2020 Hamilton won a record-equalling seventh Formula One World Championship and Nadal won his 20th Grand Slam title, to tie Roger Federer.

Also nominated are NBA super star LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers, footballer Robert Lewandowski of Bayern Munich, who won the Best FIFA Men’s Player Award and two hopeful Olympians – Uganda’s Joshua Cheptegei, who broke both the 5,000 and 10,000 metres world records, and Sweden’s Armand Duplantis, who created new outdoor and indoor pole vault world records.

Naomi Osaka, winner of the Laureus Breakthrough Award in 2019, is nominated for the Laureus World Sportswoman of the Year Award, after her second US Open win in September. Also short-listed are Holland’s Anna van der Breggen, who won both road race and time trial at the World Cycling Championships, Italy’s Federica Brignone, skiing’s World Cup winner, Kenya’s Brigid Kosgei, winner of the London Marathon, Wendie Renard, captain of Lyon, who won a fifth straight Women’s Champions League, and basketball’s Breanna Stewart, who led Seattle Storm to the WNBA Championship.

Football’s Bayern Munich, winners of the Champions League, and Liverpool, who won their first English Premier League title for 30 years, are nominated for the Laureus World Team of the Year Award, along with NBA champions, the Los Angeles Lakers, Formula One constructors’ champions Mercedes AMG-Petronas, the Kansas City Chiefs, who won the 2020 Super Bowl, and the Argentina Men’s Rugby Team.

The nominations for the Laureus World Breakthrough of the Year Award include some of the most incredible young sporting talent to make an impact in 2020. Slovenia’s Tadej Pogacar, 21, became the youngest rider in a century to win the Tour de France; Barcelona’s Ansu Fati, 17, is Spain’s youngest ever goalscorer, while his fellow Spaniard Joan Mir, 23, won his first Moto GP World Championship. Poland’s Iga Swiatek, 19, won the French Open to become the youngest women’s singles winner at Roland Garros since 1992, while Austria’s Dominic Thiem, 27, won his first ever Grand Slam title at the US Open. Patrick Mahomes led Kansas City Chiefs to their first Super Bowl win in 50 years.

The Laureus World Comeback of the Year Nominees personify the true spirit, determination and tenacity of athletes who have overcome hurdles to return to action. Top women’s skier Mikaela Shiffrin came back from a break following her father’s death to start winning again, Japan’s Kento Momota, badminton’s world No.1, returned to competition after surviving a serious car crash, Canada’s Max Parrot recovered from cancer to win two X-Games snowboarding gold medals, Alex Smith came back to play for Washington in the NFL, 728 days and 17 operations after a leg injury, baseball’s Daniel Bard returned to top level pitching after seven years because of ‘yips’, and US football star Alex Morgan made her debut for London club Tottenham just 184 days after giving birth.

For the first time ever, three Sport for Development programmes have been shortlisted alongside the Nominees for the Laureus Awards, reflecting the outstanding contribution made by grassroots sports organisations throughout the Covid-19 Pandemic. In contention for the Laureus Sport for Good Award are: Boxgirls Kenya, a programme using boxing to empower at-risk girls in underserved slum communities in Nairobi; Fundación Colombianitos, a Colombian organisation using football and rugby to promote education and bridge gender gaps; and KICKFORMORE, a football organisation that encourages participants to make positive contributions in their communities in Germany.

In view of the significantly reduced amount of activity which took place in some sports in 2020, the Laureus World Sportsperson of the Year with a Disability Award and the Laureus World Action Sportsperson of the Year Award will not be presented, although sports from these categories will be recognised elsewhere in the Awards show.

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