Olympic heroes Biles and Marchand join history-makers Real Madrid on Nominations list for 2025 Laureus Awards
The countdown to the greatest show in sport has officially begun. The Nominees for the Laureus World Sports Awards have been announced – and the shortlists feature heroes from the Paris Olympics, Grand Slam champions, world-record breakers and more. 2025 marks the 25th anniversary of the Awards and this year’s event will seek to honour the past, celebrate the present and inspire the future.
The sporting year of 2024 was illuminated by the incredible spectacle of the Paris Olympics – so it is fitting that two stars of the Games will compete for the Laureus World Sportsman of the Year Award. The face of the Paris Games was Léon Marchand, who won four golds in the pool, while Mondo Duplantis won a second Olympic pole vault gold and raised his own world record a further two times. Carlos Alcaraz – winner of two Grand Slam singles titles and the Olympic silver medal – is also nominated alongside Max Verstappen, who secured his fourth straight Formula One World Championship in 2024, and Tadej Pogačar, who became only the third man to win the triple crown of the Tour de France, Giro d’Italia and the world championship in the same year.
Laureus World Sportsman of the Year Award Nominee, Carlos Alcaraz, said: “Laureus has a special place in my heart and I am deeply honoured to be nominated for the Laureus World Sportsman of the Year Award. In 2023, I won the Laureus World Breakthrough of the Year Award and – as if the evening could get any better – I also met Lionel Messi on the red carpet! When I reflect on 2024, my mind goes to that incredible moment at Wimbledon when I picked up my second men’s singles trophy against Novak Djokovic, an athlete who has won this prestigious Award five times. The Laureus Awards celebrate the very best from the world of sport, and to be nominated for the Sportsman of the Year Award by the world’s media is an achievement and an incredible honour.”
Last year’s winner of the Laureus World Sportswoman of the Year Award, Aitana Bonmatí, is shortlisted again alongside a three-time winner, Simone Biles. Biles won three golds plus a silver in Paris while Bonmatí is nominated again after a second successive Ballon d’Or and a treble-winning season with Barcelona. Sifan Hassan won bronze at both 5,000 and 10,000 metres, plus marathon gold, in Paris. Faith Kipyegon became the only three-time Olympic champion in the 1,500 metres and added silver in the 5,000m. Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone’s world-record breaking run to gold in the 400 metres hurdles was followed up with gold in the 4 x 400 metres relay. And tennis star Aryna Sabalenka is nominated after winning the Australian Open and US Open to reach the top spot in both singles and doubles.
Laureus World Sportswoman of the Year Award Nominee, Aitana Bonmatí, said: “Being nominated for a Laureus for a second year in a row is a huge honour. I was delighted that 2024 proved another successful year for both for me and my team, FC Barcelona, and the national team. We won the four titles: Champions League, Liga F, Copa de la Reina and SuperCup, the Nations League with Spain, and I also picked up my second Ballon d'Or Feminin. So I am proud to be nominated both individually and as part of that team for these Awards that bring together champions from across the world of sport. The message at the heart of their mission – that sport has the power to change the world – is one that I share.
Laureus World Sportswoman of the Year Award Nominee, Aitana Bonmatí, said: “Being nominated for a Laureus for a second year in a row is a huge honour. I was delighted that 2024 proved another successful year for both for me and my team, FC Barcelona, and the national team. We won the four titles: Champions League, Liga F, Copa de la Reina and SuperCup, the Nations League with Spain, and I also picked up my second Ballon d'Or Feminin. So I am proud to be nominated both individually and as part of that team for these Awards that bring together champions from across the world of sport. The message at the heart of their mission – that sport has the power to change the world – is one that I share.
“I want my successes to open doors and break down barriers. As athletes, we have a responsibility to use our voices to make the world a better place.”
Three stars from the Paris Games are nominated for the Laureus World Breakthrough of the Year Award. Julien Alfred won a first-ever Olympic gold for the Caribbean Island of St Lucia and Botswana celebrated its first Olympic gold thanks to Letsile Tebogo’s win in the men’s 200m. In the pool, teenager Summer McIntosh won three golds and a silver. Bayer 04 Leverkusen ended Bayern Munich’s 11-year streak of Bundesliga titles with a first-ever unbeaten league campaign to win the first title in the club’s 120-year history. Lamine Yamal was the winner of the Kopa Trophy as the best player under the age of 21, the star of Euro 2024 for Spain and the talisman for Barcelona at the age of 17. And Victor Wembanyama took the NBA by storm in his rookie season, unanimously named NBA Rookie of the Year and finishing second in the Defensive Player of the Year voting.
It's almost Spain v USA for the Laureus World Team of the Year Award. Only the McLaren Formula 1 Team break up the head-to-head, but they more than merit their place after ending a 26-year wait to win the Formula One World Constructors’ Championship. Spain’s dominance in football is reflected by nominations for FC Barcelona Women’s Football Team, who won the treble of the UEFA Women's Champions League, Liga F and Copa de la Reina; Real Madrid, winners of La Liga and, for an incredible 15th time, the Champions League; and the Spain Men’s Football Team who became the first team ever to win the European Championship with victory in every match and no penalty shoot-outs. For football in Spain, read basketball in the USA. The Boston Celtics beat the Dallas Mavericks 106-88 in Game Five of the finals to claim a record 18th NBA title; and the all-star USA Basketball Men’s National Team won Olympic gold against the host nation in Paris.
It's almost Spain v USA for the Laureus World Team of the Year Award. Only the McLaren Formula 1 Team break up the head-to-head, but they more than merit their place after ending a 26-year wait to win the Formula One World Constructors’ Championship. Spain’s dominance in football is reflected by nominations for FC Barcelona Women’s Football Team, who won the treble of the UEFA Women's Champions League, Liga F and Copa de la Reina; Real Madrid, winners of La Liga and, for an incredible 15th time, the Champions League; and the Spain Men’s Football Team who became the first team ever to win the European Championship with victory in every match and no penalty shoot-outs. For football in Spain, read basketball in the USA. The Boston Celtics beat the Dallas Mavericks 106-88 in Game Five of the finals to claim a record 18th NBA title; and the all-star USA Basketball Men’s National Team won Olympic gold against the host nation in Paris.
Nominees have been selected in six Laureus categories following a vote in December 2024 by the 1,300 members of the Laureus Global Media Panel and, in the case of the Award for Laureus World Sportsperson of the Year with a Disability, a vote by the International Paralympic Committee. And alongside the elite categories, the Laureus Sport for Good Award will go to one of the exceptional six shortlisted grassroots sport for development programme identified by Laureus.
Each year, the 69 Members of the Laureus Academy honour one sports-based programme with the Laureus Sport for Good Award. The 2025 shortlist includes: Kick4Life, a charity which uses football to reach at-risk children and young people in Lesotho; Figure Skating in Harlem – based in the New York neighbourhood of the same name – uses figure skating to help girls grow in confidence, leadership and academic achievement; In Spain, Kind Surf employs surf therapy to support young people at risk of social exclusion due to intellectual disabilities. Liberi Nantes, based in Rome, Italy, offers a range of activities including touch rugby, hiking and Italian language teaching through sport; Paris Basket 18 began as a neighbourhood basketball club and now has an extensive outreach into its community. In the UK, Street League uses the power of sport to help young people aged 14-30 secure employment and training opportunities.
Two swimmers at opposing ends of the age spectrum are included in the shortlist for the Laureus World Sportsperson of the Year with a Disability Award. 48-year-old Spaniard Teresa Perales claimed the 28th Paralympic medal of her career when she won the 50 metres backstroke S2 bronze, while 19-year-old Chinese Para swimming sensation Jiang Yuyan won an incredible seven gold medals from seven events. Tokito Oda won the wheelchair tennis singles final in Paris, coming from match point down to beat World No.1 Alfie Hewett. American Matt Stutzman also made history in Paris as he became the first armless Para archer to win a gold medal. Catherine Debrunner won gold in five events and also won the 2024 Berlin and London Marathons for the second straight year. China’s Qu Zimo won three gold medals in the BWF Para Badminton World Championship in Thailand, and two more golds in Paris.
Each year, the 69 Members of the Laureus Academy honour one sports-based programme with the Laureus Sport for Good Award. The 2025 shortlist includes: Kick4Life, a charity which uses football to reach at-risk children and young people in Lesotho; Figure Skating in Harlem – based in the New York neighbourhood of the same name – uses figure skating to help girls grow in confidence, leadership and academic achievement; In Spain, Kind Surf employs surf therapy to support young people at risk of social exclusion due to intellectual disabilities. Liberi Nantes, based in Rome, Italy, offers a range of activities including touch rugby, hiking and Italian language teaching through sport; Paris Basket 18 began as a neighbourhood basketball club and now has an extensive outreach into its community. In the UK, Street League uses the power of sport to help young people aged 14-30 secure employment and training opportunities.
Two swimmers at opposing ends of the age spectrum are included in the shortlist for the Laureus World Sportsperson of the Year with a Disability Award. 48-year-old Spaniard Teresa Perales claimed the 28th Paralympic medal of her career when she won the 50 metres backstroke S2 bronze, while 19-year-old Chinese Para swimming sensation Jiang Yuyan won an incredible seven gold medals from seven events. Tokito Oda won the wheelchair tennis singles final in Paris, coming from match point down to beat World No.1 Alfie Hewett. American Matt Stutzman also made history in Paris as he became the first armless Para archer to win a gold medal. Catherine Debrunner won gold in five events and also won the 2024 Berlin and London Marathons for the second straight year. China’s Qu Zimo won three gold medals in the BWF Para Badminton World Championship in Thailand, and two more golds in Paris.
At the Paris Olympics, Brazilian gymnast Rebeca Andrade won gold in the floor exercise, silver in the all-around and vault and bronze in the team event – a stunning success which belied a tortuous struggle with anterior cruciate ligament injuries. She is nominated for the Laureus World Comeback of the Year Award alongside Caeleb Dressel, who took eight months away from the pool to prioritise his mental health before winning two golds and a silver in relay events in Paris. Eight years separated Lara Gut-Behrami’s first World Cup title in the 2015/16 season and her second. Spanish motor cyclist Marc Márquez’s win in the Aragon Grand Prix ended a 1,000-day victory drought after an arm injury in 2020 that required four operations. Rishabh Pant returned to play for the India Test team 629 days after a life-threatening car crash and in his comeback Test he equalled M.S. Dhoni for most centuries made as India’s wicket keeper. In September 2023, Australian swimmer Ariarne Titmus was diagnosed with a tumour on an ovary. After successful surgery, she recovered to become the first woman in nearly a century to defend the Olympic 400m freestyle title.
Two skateboarders who won gold at the Olympic Games are nominated for the Laureus World Action Sportsperson of the Year Award. In the men’s street competition, Yuto Horigome defended the title he won at his home Olympics in Tokyo. Last year’s winner Arisa Trew won the skateboard park gold medal, making her Australia’s youngest ever Olympic champion. US surfer Caroline Marks won her gold in Tahiti – 9300 miles from Paris – where the surfing competition was staged. British mountain biker Tom Pidcock overcame a puncture to become only the second man to win back-to-back Olympic titles in the cyclo-cross discipline. Polish speed climber Aleksandra Mirosław set two world records in a stunning qualifying session before claiming gold. US Snowboarder Chloe Kim – winner of the Laureus Action Sportsperson of the Year Award in 2019 and 2020 – returned to competitive action with a seventh X-Games superpipe gold medal win. Kim has now tied Kelly Clark’s record of most X-Games wins.
Isabel Díaz Ayuso, the President of the Community of Madrid, said: "Over the past quarter-century, we have witnessed how sports have been a driver of social change, a tool for uniting cultures, overcoming adversity, and creating opportunities for thousands of people around the world.
"Sports know no borders or languages. They speak a universal language—the language of sacrifice and perseverance, of teamwork, of rising again when everything goes wrong, of trying one more time. The language of being a winner. That is why Madrid, the capital of Spain and of the Hispanic world, celebrates once again being the host of this ceremony. A vibrant, passionate city committed to sports, which in the coming years will host historic events such as the Formula 1 Grand Prix, the Tennis Open, the Hexagon Cup of padel, and the arrival of the NFL in Spain—at an international temple of sports, the new Santiago Bernabéu."
José Luis Martínez-Almeida, the Mayor of Madrid, said: “Hosting the Laureus Awards for the second consecutive year is both a reward and a testament to the trust that the world of sports places in Madrid for our commitment to the values of perseverance, effort, and excellence. Madrid is today the place to be, as confirmed by the fact that the gathering of the world's greatest sports stars is once again taking place under our sky, in the Crystal Gallery of the Palacio de Cibeles.”
Click here to see the full list of Nominees for the 2025 Laureus World Sports Awards
Isabel Díaz Ayuso, the President of the Community of Madrid, said: "Over the past quarter-century, we have witnessed how sports have been a driver of social change, a tool for uniting cultures, overcoming adversity, and creating opportunities for thousands of people around the world.
"Sports know no borders or languages. They speak a universal language—the language of sacrifice and perseverance, of teamwork, of rising again when everything goes wrong, of trying one more time. The language of being a winner. That is why Madrid, the capital of Spain and of the Hispanic world, celebrates once again being the host of this ceremony. A vibrant, passionate city committed to sports, which in the coming years will host historic events such as the Formula 1 Grand Prix, the Tennis Open, the Hexagon Cup of padel, and the arrival of the NFL in Spain—at an international temple of sports, the new Santiago Bernabéu."
José Luis Martínez-Almeida, the Mayor of Madrid, said: “Hosting the Laureus Awards for the second consecutive year is both a reward and a testament to the trust that the world of sports places in Madrid for our commitment to the values of perseverance, effort, and excellence. Madrid is today the place to be, as confirmed by the fact that the gathering of the world's greatest sports stars is once again taking place under our sky, in the Crystal Gallery of the Palacio de Cibeles.”
Click here to see the full list of Nominees for the 2025 Laureus World Sports Awards
