Overcoming the Elements - Laureus World Action Sportsperson of the Year Nominees
Our Nominees for the Laureus World Action Sportsperson of the Year Award took on waves, walls... and fear itself.
‘Courage is not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it’
Three decades have passed since Nelson Mandela wrote those words, yet their impact remains as strong as ever. Laureus’ first patron was describing the learnings he took from his personal struggle to freedom and the message is inspirational to us all. It is one embodied, in a sporting sense, by the six Nominees up for the Laureus World Action Sportsperson of the Year Award.
They stared fear dead in the eye and refused to blink. Courage? It comes with the territory.
Three decades have passed since Nelson Mandela wrote those words, yet their impact remains as strong as ever. Laureus’ first patron was describing the learnings he took from his personal struggle to freedom and the message is inspirational to us all. It is one embodied, in a sporting sense, by the six Nominees up for the Laureus World Action Sportsperson of the Year Award.
They stared fear dead in the eye and refused to blink. Courage? It comes with the territory.
These athletes have defied the odds – and gravity – in their perilous pursuit of excellence, and have kept millions on the edges of their seats along the way. From the Californian slopes to the streets of Paris, fans witnessed perfect landings executed, seismic waves conquered, treacherous mountains tamed and seemingly insurmountable summits reached.
After taking a break from competition to prioritise her mental health, Chloe Kim made her return to the snowboarding circuit in 2024. It was as if she never left. The two-time Laureus World Action Sportsperson of the Year collected her seventh X Games superpipe gold medal in Aspen, USA, and made history in the process. With gold already in the bag thanks to a flawless first run, the 24-year-old used her final run to attempt the Cab 1260 – three and a half full rotations – and by pulling it off, became the first woman to successfully nail the trick since the competition’s inception.
26-year-old Yuto Horigome entered last summer’s Olympic Games as a defending champion in street skateboarding. But if he was feeling any extra pressure, he did a good job hiding it. The three-time X Games champion landed the best trick of the street competition at the Place de la Concorde, scoring 97.08 – the highest of the day – on his sensational final attempt to see off the formidable challenge of American rivals Jagger Eaton and Nyjah Huston and seal back-to-back Olympic titles.
After taking a break from competition to prioritise her mental health, Chloe Kim made her return to the snowboarding circuit in 2024. It was as if she never left. The two-time Laureus World Action Sportsperson of the Year collected her seventh X Games superpipe gold medal in Aspen, USA, and made history in the process. With gold already in the bag thanks to a flawless first run, the 24-year-old used her final run to attempt the Cab 1260 – three and a half full rotations – and by pulling it off, became the first woman to successfully nail the trick since the competition’s inception.
26-year-old Yuto Horigome entered last summer’s Olympic Games as a defending champion in street skateboarding. But if he was feeling any extra pressure, he did a good job hiding it. The three-time X Games champion landed the best trick of the street competition at the Place de la Concorde, scoring 97.08 – the highest of the day – on his sensational final attempt to see off the formidable challenge of American rivals Jagger Eaton and Nyjah Huston and seal back-to-back Olympic titles.
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In 2024, everything Arisa Trew touched turned to gold. Last year, the Australian phenomenon became the first woman to land a 900 with two and a half rotations – one month after being crowned Laureus World Action Sportsperson of the Year. But that was merely the warm-up act to a show-stopping summer in which she became her country’s youngest-ever Olympic champion, winning gold aged just 14 months and 26 days. She then followed that up with a maiden world title in Rome, before clinching three X Games golds in Chiba, Japan, to round off a historic campaign.
6.10 seconds. That’s how long it took for 15 years of dedication and sacrifice to pay off for our next fearless Nominee. Aleksandra Mirosław’s time in the women’s speed climbing final in Paris was enough to win her first-ever Olympic gold, three years after missing out on the podium in Tokyo. Yet for anyone who had seen the Pole set two world records during qualifying, her success came as little surprise. An incredible season was recognised with the award of Poland’s 2024 Sports Personality of the Year, while a mural was also created in her honour in her hometown of Lublin.
6.10 seconds. That’s how long it took for 15 years of dedication and sacrifice to pay off for our next fearless Nominee. Aleksandra Mirosław’s time in the women’s speed climbing final in Paris was enough to win her first-ever Olympic gold, three years after missing out on the podium in Tokyo. Yet for anyone who had seen the Pole set two world records during qualifying, her success came as little surprise. An incredible season was recognised with the award of Poland’s 2024 Sports Personality of the Year, while a mural was also created in her honour in her hometown of Lublin.
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When Tom Pidcock suffered a puncture in the early stages of his Olympic cross-country mountain biking title defence, few could have predicted the remarkable sequence of events which would soon unfold.
Sitting in ninth place and 39 seconds behind home favourite Victor Koretzky, it would have been easy for the former world champion to throw in the towel. Instead, having fought back to get within touching distance of the Frenchman, the 25-year-old pulled off a daring overtake in trees on the final lap to take the lead, before crossing the line first to win his second straight Olympic gold.
Sitting in ninth place and 39 seconds behind home favourite Victor Koretzky, it would have been easy for the former world champion to throw in the towel. Instead, having fought back to get within touching distance of the Frenchman, the 25-year-old pulled off a daring overtake in trees on the final lap to take the lead, before crossing the line first to win his second straight Olympic gold.
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While our final Nominee will go down in the record books as a Paris 2024 Olympic gold medallist, her triumph was celebrated almost 10,000 miles away from the French capital. American Caroline Marks was one of 48 surfers to descend on the French Polynesian island of Tahiti, where she battled the elements at the world renowned Teahupo’o reef pass. Half a mile from shore and at the mercy of Mother Nature, the 22-year-old seized her opportunity, finishing ahead of Brazil’s Tatiana Weston-Webb following a nerve-shredding final to take the title.
Our six Nominees conquered adversity, the elements and the best athletes in the world to achieve their goals in 2024. Fear never stood a chance.
Our six Nominees conquered adversity, the elements and the best athletes in the world to achieve their goals in 2024. Fear never stood a chance.
