Sports Media Report
U.S.-based athletes and teams have received 12 Nominations for the 2023 Laureus World Sports Awards, following a ballot by the world’s sports media.
The exceptional American sportsmen and sportswomen who have been shortlisted this year are NBA giants Steph Curry and Klay Thompson, swimming star Katie Ledecky, 100 metres hurdler Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, golfing greats Tiger Woods and Scottie Scheffler, Olympic figure skating champion Nathan Chen, World Cup winning skier Mikaela Shiffrin, Olympic snowboarder Chloe Kim andParalympic stars Oksana Masters and Declan Farmer.
The names of the Winners in eight categories will be revealed in the Spring following a vote by the Laureus World Sports Academy, the ultimate sports jury, made up of 71 of the greatest sporting legends of all time. This year the most prestigious Awards in sport will celebrate not only athletes who thrilled fans over the previous 12 months, but will honour many who will end their careers with a claim to be the greatest in the history of their sport.
Steph Curry led Golden State Warriors to a fourth NBA Championship in eight years and is nominated for the Laureus World Sportsman of the Year Award. He finds himself in one of the most competitive line-ups in the history of the Award, which also includes FIFA World Cup heroes Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappé, tennis great Rafael Nadal, winner of the Australian Open and French Open, back-to-back Formula One world champion Max Verstappen and pole vault star Mondo Duplantis, who representsSweden but was borninLouisiana.
Steph Curry’s team-mate Klay Thompson has been shortlisted for the Laureus World Comeback of the Year Award after returning to basketball after being out injured for nearly 31 months and playing a key role in helping Warriors win the NBA Championship. Also in this category are Tiger Woods, who returned toplay inthe Masters 14 months after a serious car crash, Danish footballer Christian Eriksen, who returned to soccer after suffering a cardiac arrest on the pitch in June 2021, world MotoGP champion Francesco Bagnaia, Norwegian track starJakob Ingebrigtsen andDutch cyclistAnnemiek van Vleuten.
It became a triple triumph for the Golden State Warriors organisation when they joined Curry and Thompson with their own Nomination – for the Laureus World Team of the Year Award. They will be competing with FIFA World Cup winners Argentina, Champions League winners Real Madrid, the England Women’s Football Team, which won the European Championship, the Red Bull Formula One Team and France Men’s Rugby Team.
The race for the Laureus World Sportswoman of the Year Award includes two athletes who lit up the World Championships in Eugene, Oregon: Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, whowon goldin the400m hurdlesand Jamaica’s Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, who became afive-time world champion over 100 metres.
Sydney said: “To be shortlisted for the 2023 Laureus World Sportswoman of the Year is an absolute honour. 2022 was a year to remember for me, being the first woman to break the 51 second barrier and claim the world record at the World Championships was a moment I will never forget. Being recognised by the world’s media for that moment and to be one of six inspirational sportswomen included in this special category is incredible in itself.”
Also nominated are tennis world No.1 Iga Świątek, who won the French Open and the US Open, US swimmer Katie Ledecky, who won four gold medals in the World Championships, FC Barcelona’s women’s soccer captain Alexia Putellas andMikaela Shiffrin, who won her fourth overall skiing World Cup despite having a disappointing Winter Olympics. She is now level on four overall World Cup successes with fellow American Lindsey Vonn.
Brilliant Olympic figure skater Nathan Chen and Masters golf winner Scottie Scheffler are the two Americans nominated for the Laureus World Breakthrough of the Year Award, along with Spain’sCarlos Alcarazwho won theUS Open and became the youngest ever men’s world tennis No.1 at 19 years, 4 months and 6 days, Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina, 100 metres hurdles world champion Tobi Amusan, and the Morocco Football Team, the first African nation to reach the World Cup semi-finals.
The Nominees for the Laureus World Action Sports Award are headed by US snowboard star Chloe Kim, who won her second straight halfpipe Olympic gold medal in Beijing. Also shortlisted areChinese freestyle skier Eileen Gu, who was one of the other stars of the Winter Olympics, Brazilian skateboarder Rayssa Leal, plus three surfers: eight-time world champion Stephanie Gilmore, men’s world champion Filipe Toledo and big wave specialist Justine Dupont.
Six Nominees are selected in each Laureus category by a vote of the Laureus Media Nominations Panel which consists of 1,400 of the leading sports journalists, editors and broadcasters from around the world, except for the shortlists for the Laureus World Sportsperson with a Disability Award and the Laureus Sport for Good Award, whichare chosen by specialist panels.
Two Americans have been shortlisted for theLaureus Disability Award:2020 winner Oksana Masters, who became the first US athlete to win seven medals – three gold and four silver- in one Paralympic Games, making her the most decorated US Paralympian of all time with 17 medals; and Declan Farmer, who won his third consecutive ice hockey gold medal at the Winter Paralympics in Beijing.
The Laureus Sport for Good Award recognises an individual or organisation who, in the opinion of the members of the Laureus World Sports Academy, has made a significant contribution to transforming the lives of children and young people through sport.
