Laureus Awards, started in 2000, recognizes athletes for their sporting excellence. The following are the categories in which athletes are judged.
Laureus World Sportsman Of The Year Award
- Carlos Alcaraz (Spain) Tennis – Won the French Open, Wimbledon and the Olympic silver medal
- Mondo Duplantis (Sweden) Athletics – retained Olympic pole vault title; has now broken world record 10 times
- Léon Marchand (France) Swimming – won four individual gold medals at the Paris Olympics
- Tadej Pogačar (Slovenia) Cycling – 25 wins, including Tour de France, Giro d’Italia and World Championship
- Max Verstappen (Netherlands) Motor Racing – won a fourth successive Formula One World Championship
Laureus World Sportswoman Of The Year Award
- Simone Biles (USA) Gymnastics – impressive return to Olympic stage with three golds and a silver in Paris
- Aitana Bonmatí (Spain) Football – second straight Ballon d’Or Feminin as Barcelona won Champions League, Liga F and Copa de la Reina
- Sifan Hassan (Netherlands) Athletics – bronze in 5,000m and 10,000m plus marathon gold in Paris
- Faith Kipyegon (Kenya) Athletics – became the only three-time Olympic champion in 1,500 metres in Paris
- Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone (USA) Athletics – Olympic golds in 400m hurdles and 4 x 400m relay
- Aryna Sabalenka Tennis – won Australian and US Opens; became World No.1 in singles and doubles
Laureus World Team Of The Year Award
- FC Barcelona Women’s Team (Spain) Football – won Champions League, Liga F and the Copa de la Reina
- Boston Celtics (USA) Basketball – claimed a record 18th NBA title, one more than their old rivals LA Lakers
- McLaren Formula One Team (UK) Formula One – secured their first World Constructors’ Championship since 1998
- Real Madrid (Spain) Football – won 15th Champions League/European Cup, La Liga and Supercopa de España
- Spain Men’s Football Team – became most successful team in European Championship history with fourth win
- USA Basketball Men’s National Team – claimed USA’s fifth straight Olympic gold to emulate the famous Dream Team
Laureus World Breakthrough Of The Year Award
- Julien Alfred (St Lucia) Athletics – won 100m in debut Olympics to take home St Lucia’s first-ever Olympic gold
- Bayer 04 Leverkusen (Germany) Football – Bundesliga champions for first time in their 120-year history after unbeaten season
- Summer McIntosh (Canada) Swimming – won three individual golds and a silver in Paris
- Letsile Tebogo (Botswana) Athletics – won 200m gold medal, Botswana’s first-ever Olympic gold medal
- Victor Wembanyama (France) Basketball – San Antonio Spurs centre won the NBA Rookie of the Year
- Lamine Yamal (Spain) Football – named Best Young Player as Spain won the European Championships
Laureus World Comeback Of The Year Award
- Rebeca Andrade (Brazil) Gymnastics – battling back from injury, she won Olympic gold, two silvers and bronze
- Caeleb Dressel (USA) Swimming – overcame mental health issues to win two relay golds and a silver in Paris
- Lara Gut-Behrami (Switzerland) Alpine Skiing – won overall World Cup title for first time since 2015/16 season
- Marc Márquez (Spain) Motor Cycling – returned from serious injury to win three Grand Prix in 2024
- Rishabh Pant (India) Cricket – 629 days after a life-threatening car crash, returned to play for India Test team
- Ariarne Titmus (Australia) Swimming – defended her Olympic 400m freestyle title less than year after being diagnosed with a tumour
Laureus World Action Sportsperson Of The Year Award
- Yuto Horigome (Japan) Skateboarding – landed best trick of street competition to secure back-to-back Olympic golds
- Chloe Kim (USA) Snowboarding – won her seventh X-Games superpipe gold medal
- Caroline Marks (USA) Surfing – 22-year-old won the Olympic surfing gold in Tahiti
- Aleksandra Miroslaw (Poland) Speed Climbing – set two world records on her way to Paris gold
- Tom Pidcock (UK) Mountain Biking – won back-to-back Olympic titles in the cyclo-cross discipline
- Arisa Trew (Australia) Skateboarding – became Australia’s youngest-ever Olympic champion, aged 14
Laureus World Sportsperson Of The Year With A Disability Award
- Catherine Debrunner (Switzerland) Athletics – won five gold medals and a silver at the Paris Paralympics
- Teresa Perales (Spain) Swimming – won bronze in Paris, to take her Paralympic medal haul to 28
- Tokito Oda (Japan) Wheelchair Tennis – came from match point down to become youngest-ever Paralympic singles winner
- Matt Stutzman (USA) Archery – became first-ever armless para-archery champion to win Olympic gold
- Jiang Yuyan (People’s Republic of China) Swimming – most-decorated athlete at Paralympics, she won seven golds from seven events
- Qu Zimo (China) Wheelchair Badminton – won three golds at World Championship, then two more in Paris
Laureus Sport For Good Award
- Programmes nominated by a specialist selection panel; Laureus Academy select the winner
- Kick4life (Lesotho) Football x Gender Equity – uses football to reach at-risk children and young people
- Figure Skating Harlem (USA) Figure Skating x Racial Equity – help girls transform their lives through figure skating
- Kind Surf (Spain) Surfing x Inclusion – uses surf therapy to support young people at risk of social exclusion due to intellectual disabilities
- Liberi Nantes (Italy) Football x Social Inclusion – offers wide range of sporting activities for refugees and political asylum seekers
- Paris Basket 18 (France) Basketball x Gender Equity – focuses on development of women’s sport, and promotes social integration
- Street League (UK) Multi-sport x Employability – uses the power of sport to help young people aged 14-30 prepare for employment and training opportunities