LAUREUS WORLD SPORTS AWARDS 2024

HISTORIC WINNERS & NOMINEES

Highlights

The winners of the 2025 Laureus World Sports Awards, the most prestigious honours in sport, are to be announced in Madrid, on April 21.

25 years after the inaugural Laureus World Sports Awards were held in Monaco in 2000, this special anniversary edition of the greatest show in sports will celebrate the growth of Laureus as a unique sporting movement – encompassing the world-famous Awards and the work of Laureus Sport for Good in over 40 countries.

And it will all take place in Madrid, the venue for last year’s globally-broadcast Awards show, when winners included Simone Biles, Jude Bellingham and Novak Djokovic. Sport is an electrifying part of Madrid’s appeal as a destination: as well as being home to five La Liga football clubs, tennis’s Madrid Open and the venue for the climax of cycling’s Vuelta a España; it will host Spain’s first ever regular season NFL game later this year and in 2026 will welcome F1 with the Formula One Gran Premio d’España staged in Madrid from 2026 on a stunning new street circuit.

The 25th anniversary Awards, staged 25 years after the first ever Laureus Awards in 2000, will honour the past, celebrate the present and inspire the future – expect the biggest names from the world of sport, joined by celebrity sports fans, in a unique mix for which Laureus is renowned.

And as ever, at stake will be ‘The Laureus’: the statuette awarded to the winner in each category and the prize the greatest athletes in the world value above all other Awards – voted on by the 69 sporting legends of the Laureus World Sports Academy.

Beyond the Awards ceremony itself, Laureus will also use the return to Madrid to showcase the impact of the social legacy of the 2024 Awards, in cooperation with the Community and City of Madrid, which will see the Awards benefit young people across the city and wider region.

Bellingham, too, was on familiar territory. The English midfielder won the Laureus World Breakthrough of the Year Award 24 hours after his goal won El Clásico for Real Madrid and he lit up the red carpet – among the many fans clamouring for a photograph was Usain Bolt, a former Laureus World Sportsman of the Year and the fastest man in history; the shared moment between Bellingham and Bolt – who hold two of the most famous celebrations in sport – was one of many #OnlyAtLaureus interactions that caught fire on social media.

iles was honoured with the Comeback of the Year Award after a sensational return to gymnastics following a two-year hiatus. Also honoured on a special night in Madrid were Arisa Trew – who aged just 13 became the first skateboarder to land a 720 in competition – and Diede de Groot, who won a third consecutive Calendar Slam in wheelchair tennis. Trew took home the Action Sportsperson of the Year Award, while De Groot was honoured with the Sportsperson of the Year with a Disability Award.

Rafael Nadal had previously won the Awards received this year by Bellingham, Biles and Djokovic, and this year completed a ‘Laureus Slam’ by collecting the Laureus Sport for Good Award for the work done by Fundación Rafa Nadal, the Laureus-supported programme which uses sport and education to improve the lives and opportunities of at-risk young people in India and Spain. Djokovic then closed the evening by receiving the Sportsman of the Year Award from his friend Tom Brady, the seven-time Super Bowl champion with whom he had watched Bellingham’s heroics at the Bernabeu. The 24-time Grand Slam champion brought together everything that the Laureus World Sports Awards celebrates and stands for.

He said: “Laureus is a very special organisation. I would like to thank especially Johann Rupert, the founder of the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation who recognised the power of sport. Also, of course, Nelson Mandela, who inspired us all and sent the powerful message that sport has the power to change the world.”

Check out the full list of Winners below...