The Moments at the Heart of Sport

Sometimes sport is about more than medals. Sometimes it’s about moments. 

That’s what we celebrate with the Laureus Sporting Moment, which returns this month. In the coming weeks, we will be highlighting stories that touched our hearts and inspired us all.  

And while we will always be thrilled by the jaw-dropping exploits of the world’s best athletes, the stories foregrounded by the Laureus Sporting Moment come from every corner of the sporting world.

In 2016, an international Under-12 football tournament provided a moment of sportsmanship that would become a reminder of the camaraderie at the heart of all competition. When a Barcelona youth team defeated Omiya Ardija of Japan, several of the players from the losing team broke down at the final whistle. The boys from Barcelona ceased their celebrations to console and connect with their rivals, and the Laureus Sporting Moment elevated their heartwarming story. 

Two years later, in 2018, the Laureus Sporting Moment featured the powerful story of the rebirth of Chapecoense, the Brazilian team who lost all but three of its players who were on LaMia Flight 2933, which crashed on its way to Colombia for the 2016 Copasudamericana Finals. The inspirational return to action of that club, led by its surviving members, was a beacon that shone across the world of football. 

From the tragedy and turmoil of the global pandemic emerged unique sporting moments to celebrate. Two Italian youngsters stayed in touch by playing a game of tennis between the rooftops of the apartment buildings where they lived. Vittoria Oliveri and Carola Pessina inspired us all – including Roger Federer, who even joined in one of their games after surprising them during an interview. Meanwhile, in Spain, medics defied a snowstorm and fought through a 10-mile trek to take up their shift at a hospital where they were the first line of defence against COVID-19. 

And in 2019, the story of Xia Boyu was elevated by the Laureus Sporting Moment – a story that began in 1975, when the climber lost both of his feet, having given his sleeping bag to a sick companion during a storm on Mount Everest. Forty-four years later, at the age of 69, he became the first double amputee to reach the summit from the Nepalese side.