Know the past winners of the Laureus World Sports Awards along with it’s importance, format, & 2023 edition winners list
After finally winning the FIFA World Cup and taking home the Golden Ball as the competition’s best player in 2018, Messi made two appearances on stage: once to accept the Laureus World Team of the Year Award on behalf of Argentina’s men’s football team and once to win his second Laureus World Sportsman of the Year Award after sharing the honor with Lewis Hamilton in 2020.
Laureus World Sports Awards all time winner full list by year and 2023 winners
A winning selfie at the 2023 Laureus World Sports Awards 🤳 🏆 ✨#Laureus23 pic.twitter.com/4rrtgdVQeE
— Laureus (@LaureusSport) May 8, 2023
Know who were the notable winners at the 2023 Laureus World Sports Awards
At the renowned 2023 Laureus World Sports Awards in Paris on Sunday night, Lionel Messi created athletic history. The legendary football player, who guided Argentina to the 2022 World Cup, made history by being the first sportsperson to win both the Laureus World Sportsman of the Year Award and the Laureus World Team of the Year Award in the same calendar year.
Carlos Alcaraz received the Laureus World Breakthrough of the Year Award for his victory at the 2022 US Open and ascent to the top spot in the world rankings. Christian Eriksen won the Laureus World Comeback of the Year Award in the meantime for making a successful comeback from a cardiac attack to play for Brentford and subsequently Manchester United in the Premier League. Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce won the Laureus World Sportswoman of the Year Award for her outstanding performance in 2022, which included winning the 100-meter gold medal at the World Athletics Championships.
Laureus World Sports Awards: all-time winners & records
Awards will be given out annually starting in 2020 in eight categories, with a few discretionary areas receiving sporadic recognition. Each prize winner receives a Cartier-made Laureus statuette at an annual event that takes place somewhere in the world. Tennis player Roger Federer from Switzerland now holds the record for most honors with six, including one for comeback of the year and five for sportsman of the year. Serena Williams currently holds the record for most female winners with five trophies, including one for the best comeback and four for sportswoman of the year.
| Year | Sportsman | Sportswoman | Team | Breakthrough | Comeback | Disability | Action | Moment |
| 2000 | Tiger Woods | Marion Jones | Manchester United | Sergio García | Lance Armstrong | Louise Sauvage | Shaun Palmer | — |
| 2001 | Tiger Woods | Cathy Freeman | France national football team | Marat Safin | Jennifer Capriati | Vinny Lauwers | Mike Horn | — |
| 2002 | Michael Schumacher | Jennifer Capriati | Australia national cricket team | Juan Pablo Montoya | Goran Ivanišević | Esther Vergeer | Bob Burnquist | — |
| 2003 | Lance Armstrong | Serena Williams | Brazil national football team | Yao Ming | Ronaldo | Michael Milton | Dean Potter | — |
| 2004 | Michael Schumacher | Annika Sörenstam | England national rugby union team | Michelle Wie | Hermann Maier | Earle Connor | Layne Beachley | — |
| 2005 | Roger Federer | Kelly Holmes | Greece national football team | Liu Xiang | Alex Zanardi | Chantal Petitclerc | Ellen MacArthur | — |
| 2006 | Roger Federer | Janica Kostelić | Renault F1 team | Rafael Nadal | Martina Hingis | Ernst van Dyk | Angelo d’Arrigo | — |
| 2007 | Roger Federer | Yelena Isinbayeva | Italy national football team | Amélie Mauresmo | Serena Williams | Martin Braxenthaler | Kelly Slater | — |
| 2008 | Roger Federer | Justine Henin | South Africa national rugby union team | Lewis Hamilton | Paula Radcliffe | Esther Vergeer | Shaun White | — |
| 2009 | Usain Bolt | Yelena Isinbayeva | China Olympic team | Rebecca Adlington | Vitali Klitschko | Daniel Dias | Kelly Slater | — |
| 2010 | Usain Bolt | Serena Williams | Brawn F1 team | Jenson Button | Kim Clijsters | Natalie du Toit | Stephanie Gilmore | — |
| 2011 | Rafael Nadal | Lindsey Vonn | Spain national football team | Martin Kaymer | Valentino Rossi | Verena Bentele | Kelly Slater | — |
| 2012 | Novak Djokovic | Vivian Cheruiyot | FC Barcelona | Rory McIlroy | Darren Clarke | Oscar Pistorius | Kelly Slater | — |
| 2013 | Usain Bolt | Jessica Ennis | Europe Ryder Cup team | Andy Murray | Félix Sánchez | Daniel Dias | Felix Baumgartner | — |
| 2014 | Sebastian Vettel | Missy Franklin | Bayern Munich | Marc Márquez | Rafael Nadal | Marie Bochet | Jamie Bestwick | — |
| 2015 | Novak Djokovic | Genzebe Dibaba | Germany national football team | Daniel Ricciardo | Schalk Burger | Tatyana McFadden | Alan Eustace | — |
| 2016 | Novak Djokovic | Serena Williams | New Zealand national rugby union team | Jordan Spieth | Dan Carter | Daniel Dias | Jan Frodeno | — |
| 2017 | Usain Bolt | Simone Biles | Chicago Cubs | Nico Rosberg | Michael Phelps | Beatrice Vio | Rachel Atherton | FC Barcelona under-12s |
| 2018 | Roger Federer | Serena Williams | Mercedes F1 Team | Sergio García | Roger Federer | Marcel Hug | Armel Le Cléac’h | Chapecoense |
| 2019 | Novak Djokovic | Simone Biles | France national football team | Naomi Osaka | Tiger Woods | Henrieta Farkašová | Chloe Kim | Xia Boyu |
| 2020 | Lewis Hamilton &
Advertisement Lionel Messi | Simone Biles | South Africa national rugby union team | Egan Bernal | Sophia Flörsch | Oksana Masters | Chloe Kim | Sachin Tendulkar |
| 2021 | Rafael Nadal | Naomi Osaka | Bayern Munich | Patrick Mahomes | Maxence Parrot | — | — | Chris Nikic |
| 2022 | Max Verstappen | Elaine Thompson-Herah | Italy national football team | Emma Raducanu | Sky Brown | Marcel Hug | Bethany Shriever | — |
| 2023 | Lionel Messi | Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce | Argentina national football team | Carlos Alcaraz | Christian Eriksen | Catherine Debrunner | Eileen Gu | — |