Quitting is not an option - Laureus World Comeback of the Year Nominees
Sometimes even the great ones can’t tell if it’s over – as was the case with several of our Nominees for the Laureus World Comeback of the Year Award.
As the saying goes, winners never quit and quitters never win. But if the initial journey to the top is exceptional, finding the strength to battle the demons that can lay in wait there, and the resilience to rise again is another feat entirely.
Sometimes the journey back proves too arduous, the injuries and self-doubt too debilitating, but not for the Nominees for this year’s Laureus World Comeback of the Year Award. For these six remarkable competitors, the obstacles were overcome. The challenges accepted. The demons defeated.
Sometimes the journey back proves too arduous, the injuries and self-doubt too debilitating, but not for the Nominees for this year’s Laureus World Comeback of the Year Award. For these six remarkable competitors, the obstacles were overcome. The challenges accepted. The demons defeated.
Brazil’s Rebeca Andrade almost quit gymnastics as she struggled to cope with a succession of injuries. Andrade has a history of injuries, including three anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tears, and the 2020 Olympic vault gold medallist was by no means a certainty to compete in Paris as the Olympic year began. At the very summit of sport, however, camaraderie and respect can be the greatest of motivators and it was Andrade’s long-time rival and friend Simone Biles who encouraged her to keep fighting and find a way back. The winner of last year’s Comeback of the Year Award, Biles knew what rewards were on offer if the Brazilian, who had won a gold and silver medal at the Tokyo Olympics, could channel her winner’s mentality into recapturing her form.
Her path to Paris was far from straightforward and Andrade barely competed before the Games, but when she arrived on the biggest stage she rediscovered herself, leaving with gold in the floor exercise, silver in the all-around and vault, and bronze in the team event. With a career total of six Olympic and nine World Championship medals, she is the most decorated Brazilian and Latin American gymnast of all time.
Her path to Paris was far from straightforward and Andrade barely competed before the Games, but when she arrived on the biggest stage she rediscovered herself, leaving with gold in the floor exercise, silver in the all-around and vault, and bronze in the team event. With a career total of six Olympic and nine World Championship medals, she is the most decorated Brazilian and Latin American gymnast of all time.
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Elite sport can test the bodies of even the very best to the limit, but there are psychological challenges that prove every bit as daunting. While progress to the highest echelons of any sport is tough, the pressure to stay there can be overwhelming.
When Caeleb Dressel dropped out of the 2022 World Championships in the middle of competition for mental health-related reasons, the sporting world was shocked. The previous year the USA swimmer had earned five gold medals and one silver at the Tokyo Olympics and was being touted by many as the heir to Michael Phelps’ crown. But those expectations contributed to anxiety and panic attacks that led him to take eight months away from the pool.
His love for the sport and his strength of character could not be denied, however, and he qualified for his third Olympic Games.
While unable to add to his haul of individual medals, with his USA team-mates he won two gold medals in the 4×100 freestyle relay and 4x100 mixed medley relay, as well as a silver in the 4x100 medley relay. Those medals took his overall Olympic tally to nine gold medals, tied second with Mark Spitz, behind Phelps.
When Caeleb Dressel dropped out of the 2022 World Championships in the middle of competition for mental health-related reasons, the sporting world was shocked. The previous year the USA swimmer had earned five gold medals and one silver at the Tokyo Olympics and was being touted by many as the heir to Michael Phelps’ crown. But those expectations contributed to anxiety and panic attacks that led him to take eight months away from the pool.
His love for the sport and his strength of character could not be denied, however, and he qualified for his third Olympic Games.
While unable to add to his haul of individual medals, with his USA team-mates he won two gold medals in the 4×100 freestyle relay and 4x100 mixed medley relay, as well as a silver in the 4x100 medley relay. Those medals took his overall Olympic tally to nine gold medals, tied second with Mark Spitz, behind Phelps.
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Sometimes, the greatest opponent is time. Swiss alpine skier Lara Gut-Behrami showed persistence and resilience to win her second overall World Cup title – eight years after her first and at the age of 32. She also won individual World Cup titles in Super-G (her seventh) and giant slalom, and is the first Swiss woman to win three different World Cup classifications in a single season since Vreni Schneider in 1995. With 45 World Cup victories across three disciplines, she is one of the all-time greats in Alpine skiing.
Several of our Nominees faced the possibility that their careers were at an end, and their comeback stories are proof that to walk away would have been to deny themselves and sports fans around the world the joy of seeing them return to the top.
Several of our Nominees faced the possibility that their careers were at an end, and their comeback stories are proof that to walk away would have been to deny themselves and sports fans around the world the joy of seeing them return to the top.
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Spanish motor cyclist Marc Márquez has candidly admitted that he questioned whether his Moto GP story was over, before his triumph in September’s Aragon Grand Prix ended a 1,000-day victory drought stretching back to 2021. That had been challenging for a sportsman who had won six world titles in seven years before he sustained an arm injury in 2020 which required four operations.
Márquez returned to the top of the podium at the age of 31 and he followed up the Aragon victory with two more in 2024, at the San Marino and Rimini Grand Prix in September and the Australian Grand Prix in October. He also had ten podiums to finish third in the World Championship standings.
Márquez returned to the top of the podium at the age of 31 and he followed up the Aragon victory with two more in 2024, at the San Marino and Rimini Grand Prix in September and the Australian Grand Prix in October. He also had ten podiums to finish third in the World Championship standings.
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For Rishabh Pant, the stakes had been even higher. The car crash the Indian cricketer was involved in put not just his career in jeopardy, but his very life. Yet 629 days after the crash, Pant returned to play for the India Test team.
The accident, in December 2022, left the wicketkeeper/batsman with widespread injuries. He needed reconstructive surgery on a knee, and it was uncertain if he would ever play again, let alone return to the sport’s summit. However, in his comeback Test he equalled M.S. Dhoni for most centuries made as an India wicket keeper.
The accident, in December 2022, left the wicketkeeper/batsman with widespread injuries. He needed reconstructive surgery on a knee, and it was uncertain if he would ever play again, let alone return to the sport’s summit. However, in his comeback Test he equalled M.S. Dhoni for most centuries made as an India wicket keeper.
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Sometimes, the pathway an athlete is on can change in an instant. For Andrade, it was yet another injury; for Pant, it was the car crash that put him in hospital; for Ariane Titmus, it was a diagnosis from her doctor.
Having won two gold medals at the Tokyo Olympics, the expectation around Titmus was for even better in Paris. However, in September 2023 she was diagnosed with a tumour on an ovary. Surgery was successful and she recovered in time to set a new world record in the 200m freestyle during the Australian Swimming Trials. Then, having secured her place in the Australian Olympic team, she became the first woman in nearly a century to defend the 400m freestyle title, finishing ahead of Summer McIntosh and her great rival Katie Ledecky.
It was proof, yet again, that winners never quit, even if they do occasionally contemplate it.
Having won two gold medals at the Tokyo Olympics, the expectation around Titmus was for even better in Paris. However, in September 2023 she was diagnosed with a tumour on an ovary. Surgery was successful and she recovered in time to set a new world record in the 200m freestyle during the Australian Swimming Trials. Then, having secured her place in the Australian Olympic team, she became the first woman in nearly a century to defend the 400m freestyle title, finishing ahead of Summer McIntosh and her great rival Katie Ledecky.
It was proof, yet again, that winners never quit, even if they do occasionally contemplate it.
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