Olympic and Paralympic legends to attend Laureus World Sports Awards in Paris
Many of the world’s greatest sportsmen and women, past and present, will be attending this year’s Laureus World Sports Awards, in Paris on May 8.
Led by an elite group of gold medal winning Olympians, it includes Laureus Academy Members Sebastian Coe, Edwin Moses, Jessica Ennis-Hill, Nawal El Moutawakel, Chris Hoy and Paralympic star Tanni Grey-Thompson.
Also present will be Jamaica’s pocket rocket, the brilliant sprinter Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, who has won two individual sprint Olympic gold medals and six individual world titles, and Brazilian skateboard prodigy Rayssa Leal who won an Olympic silver medal in Tokyo at the age of 14.
Their presence at the Awards Ceremony in the heart of Paris will be hugely popular as the timelessly beautiful city prepares to host the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games in 15 months.
Also among the early confirmed attendees are some of the world’s most celebrated footballers, including Laureus Academy Members Luis Figo and Carles Puyol, Laureus Ambassador Fabio Capello, French giants Patrice Evra and Claude Makelele.
Also among the early confirmed attendees are some of the world’s most celebrated footballers, including Laureus Academy Members Luis Figo and Carles Puyol, Laureus Ambassador Fabio Capello, French giants Patrice Evra and Claude Makelele.
There will be a massive welcome in Paris for France’s Justine Dupont, who has established herself as the best female big wave surfer in the world since 2019, and now challenges the men in the sport.
The Laureus Sportsperson of the Year with a Disability Award is one of the most prestigious in Paralympic sport and this year five of the six Nominees in the category have already confirmed they will be in Paris: Cameron Leslie, Catherine Debrunner, Oksana Masters, Declan Farmer and Jesper Saltvik Pedersen. Also in Paris will be popular Italian wheelchair fencer Bebe Vio.
Sebastian Coe, Laureus Academy Member and Chairman of the London 2012 Organising Committee, said: “I saw in 2012 the incredible impact the Olympic Games has on its host city. It’s about far more than elite competition, the change can be societal and it lasts long after the medals are handed out. That cycle began in earnest with the Laureus World Sports Awards, the greatest celebration of sport we have. With the Rugby World Cup and then the Olympics, Paris is about to become the centre of the sporting world. There’s no better way to begin than with the Laureus Awards. I’m looking forward to celebrating the best of sport in Paris on May 8.”
While celebrating the best of sport, the Laureus Awards Ceremony is also a powerful showcase for Laureus Sport for Good, which has improved the lives of more than six and a half million young people since its inception in 2000. Laureus is excited to be working with Paris to host the 2023 Awards Ceremony, a natural development from its co-operation on the Laureus Sport for Good Model City project over the last three years, helping young people in the city.
