Three runners among nominees for the Laureus Sportsperson of Year Award
Kipchoge, Thompson-Herah and Felix are among the 12 nominees for male and female Sportsperson of the year
Three Olympic gold medallists from the Tokyo Olympics are among the nominees for the Laureus Sportsperson of the Year. Recipients of this award are regarded as the world’s most exceptional athletes, and their achievement is celebrated throughout the year. Kenya’s Eliud Kipchoge, Jamaica’s Elaine Thompson-Herah and U.S. sprinter Allyson Felix are three of 12 nominees for the award, which also includes NFL superstar Tom Brady, tennis champion Novak Djokovic and Formula One driver Max Verstappen. (Thompson-Herah and Kipchoge have been nominated twice previously, and Felix four times. None has ever won.)
? It’s official. These are the Nominees for the 2022 Laureus World Sportsman of the Year Award:
? @TomBrady
? @DjokerNole
?♂️ #CaelebDressel
?♂️ @EliudKipchoge
⚽️ @lewy_official
? @Max33Verstappen#Laureus22 pic.twitter.com/jQ1lmofCuo— Laureus (@LaureusSport) February 2, 2022
The nominees are selected by a panel of over 1,300 sports journalists. Once the nominees are selected, 71 members of the Laureus World Sports Academy will vote on the winner.
The Laureus Academy forms the ultimate sports jury, which consists of many Olympic gold medallists, world champions and most famous athletes around the world. The role of the group is to provide an understanding of what makes exceptional sporting achievement.
✨ Six inspirational sportswomen have been nominated for the 2022 Laureus World Sportswoman of the Year Award. They are:
? @ashbarty
?♀️ @allysonfelix
?♀️ @katieledecky
?♀️ @emma_mckeon
⚽️ @alexiaputellas
?♀️ @FastElaine#Laureus22 pic.twitter.com/CnW6T2e85b— Laureus (@LaureusSport) February 2, 2022
One woman and one man will be chosen among the six nominees in April by the Laureus Academy.
Sportswomen of the Year nominees
Allyson Felix (U.S.) – Qualified for her fifth straight Olympic Games and became the first female athlete in Athletics to win an Olympic medal at five straight Olympic Games. Felix won gold in the women’s 4×400 relay as she ran the second leg on a loaded team.
Elaine Thompson-Herah (Jamaica) – She pulled off the 100m/200m double gold in Tokyo, then two weeks later clocked the second-fastest women’s 100m time ever of 10.54.
Ashleigh Barty (Australia) – No. 1 female tennis player in the world currently and just came off her first-ever Australian Open title.
Katie Ledecky (U.S.) – Won the 800m and 1,500m freestyle swimming gold medals in Tokyo and silver medals in the 400m freestyle and 4x200m freestyle relay.
Emma McKeon (Australia) – With four gold and three bronze, the swimmer won the most medals by an individual athlete in Tokyo. She is now tied for most medals ever won by a woman in a single Olympic Games with seven.
Alexia Putellas (Spain) – The footballer led FC Barcelona in goals, helping them win the UEFA Women’s Champions League title.
Karsten Warholm and Elaine Thompson-Herah named World Athletics Athletes of the Year
Sportsman of the Year nominees
Eliud Kipchoge (Kenya) – At age 36, he became only the third person in history to win back-to-back Olympic marathon gold medals in Tokyo, following on from his success in Rio.
Tom Brady (U.S.) – The greatest quarterback of all time won an NFL record seventh Super Bowl in 2021 with Tampa Bay Buccaneers in his tenth Super Bowl appearance at the age of 43.
Novak Djokovic (Serbia) – The tennis superstar won the Australian Open, French Open and Wimbledon all in 2021 to take his total of career Grand Slam wins to 20.
Max Verstappen (Netherlands) – Won his first Formula One World Championship in 2021 on the last lap in the final Grand Prix of the season.
Robert Lewandowski (Poland) – The footballer scored his 41st goal in the Bundesliga for Bayern Munich to surpass the record of 40 goals in a single season, which dated back to 1971/72.
Caeleb Dressel (U.S.) – The American swimmer won five gold medals in Tokyo, with individual golds in the 50m and 100m freestyle and 100m butterfly – He is the first male swimmer to achieve this treble at an Olympic Games.
Last year, tennis players Rafael Nadal and Naomi Osaka both won. The last runners to win the award were Usain Bolt in 2017 and Ethiopian 1,500m world record holder Genzebe Dibaba.
Due to the pandemic, the winners will be announced during a virtual Laureus Awards ceremony in April.
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