Olympic and Grand Slam champions, world record breakers and all-time-greats among athletes confirmed to attend 2025 Laureus World Sports Awards
Hollywood actor Matthew Goode to host 25th anniversary Awards
Most prestigious event on the sporting calendar to be broadcast worldwide
For full list of this year’s Nominees click here
Media accreditation open – APPLY NOW
MADRID, April 9, 2025 – As the 25th anniversary Laureus World Sports Awards approach, a host of the biggest names in sport – including Nominees for this year’s Awards, past winners and all-time legends – are confirmed for ‘The Athletes’ Awards’ in Madrid this month.
Last year’s Laureus World Sportsman of the Year, Novak Djokovic, will be in attendance, along with Nominees for this year’s Award including four-time tennis Grand Slam champion Carlos Alcaraz and Mondo Duplantis, the pole vaulter who was one of the stars of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. The two biggest names from the world of gymnastics – 2024 Olympic champions Simone Biles and Rebeca Andrade – will be there, as will the women’s tennis World No.1 Aryna Sabalenka.
The most prestigious honours event on the sporting calendar is back for a second successive year at the iconic Palacio de Cibeles in the Spanish capital, with the world’s best sportsmen and women competing for The Laureus, the statuette which signifies the ultimate recognition from the world of elite sport – athletes are nominated by a panel of global media and the winners decided by the 69 sporting legends of the Laureus World Sports Academy.
The Awards show takes place on Monday, April 21, and will be broadcast globally. The landmark show will be hosted by Hollywood actor Matthew Goode – star of Downton Abbey, The Watchmen and The Imitation Game, who follows acting royalty such as Morgan Freeman, Hugh Grant and Andy Garcia as host of the Laureus Awards.
He said: “The best athletes in the world are coming to Madrid for the 25th anniversary Laureus World Sports Awards – but I’m not sure any of them will be as excited as I am to be a part of the greatest show in sports.
“The sportswomen and men we will celebrate and honour do not need a script and they do not wait for direction. The stars of our show wrote their own stories in 2024.”
Access opportunities for accredited media begin 48 hours before the Awards Show and include media centre press conferences, roundtables and one-on-one interviews. Only at Laureus are the greatest athletes in the world available for interview alongside sporting legends from the past 40 years.
Among the stars who will be in Madrid are two Nominees for the Laureus World Sportsman of the Year Award – and Djokovic, the man who won it for a record-equalling fifth time last year. Duplantis is nominated after an incredible 2024 in which he won Olympic gold in Paris and broke his own world record twice, while Carlos Alcaraz claimed the French Open and Wimbledon to take his Grand Slam total to four.
Carlos Alcaraz said: “I am delighted to be shortlisted again for these prestigious Awards. I have great memories of picking up my Statuette for Breakthrough of the Year in Paris in 2023 – and of meeting Messi on the red carpet! I was privileged to attend last year in Madrid and present Jude Bellingham with his Breakthrough trophy, so to return to the same city again this year is very exciting. 2024 was an unbelievable year for me – to win at Roland Garros and then at Wimbledon was a dream.”
Biles and Andrade are rewarded for their remarkable achievements in Paris last summer with nominations for Laureus World Sportswoman of the Year and World Comeback of the Year respectively. Sabalenka, who won the Australian and US Opens in 2024, is also nominated in the Sportswoman category.
As the clock ticks down to the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics, a star of the slopes will be in Madrid to preview that event with global media. Eileen Gu won the 2023 Laureus World Action Sportsperson of the Year Award and will defend her two Olympic titles in freestyle skiing in Italy next year.
Other Nominees who are already confirmed to walk the red carpet in Madrid include Letsile Tebogo, the Botswanan star who won the men’s 200m title – his country’s first-ever gold medal – in Paris and is nominated for Breakthrough. Comeback of the Year Nominees set to attend include swimmer Ariarne Titmus. Nominees in the Team of the Year category represented in Madrid include Zak Brown from the McLaren Formula One Team and Robin Le Normand and Luis de la Fuente from Spain Men’s National Team. Also in Madrid will be a host of athletes shortlisted for the Laureus World Sportsperson of the Year with a Disability Award, including Spanish para swimmer Teresa Perales, para archer Matt Stutzman, para swimmer Jiang Yuyan and para badminton star Qu Zimo.
Also attending are Swedish football ace Kosovare Asllani, Iker Casillas, Spain’s World Cup winning goalkeeper; the tennis stars Paula Badosa and Stefanos Tsitsipas; and surfing’s greatest athlete, Kelly Slater.
From the sporting legends among the Laureus World Sports Academy Members and Ambassadors, those attending the Awards include Rugby World Cup winner Bryan Habana; football legends Fabio Capello, Cafu, Luis Figo and Ruud Gullit; gymnastic great Nadia Comăneci, athletics heroes including Edwin Moses and Nawal El Moutawakel, plus former Olympians Chris Hoy and Steve Redgrave. Tennis champions Boris Becker and Garbiñe Muguruza, who announced her retirement from the sport at last year’s Awards, and adventurer Annabelle Bond.
Joining Nominees and Academy Members will be sports fans from fashion, film and entertainment, plus Laureus Ambassadors including
Athletics: Mondo Duplantis, Nawal El Moutawakel, Tegla Loroupe, Edwin Moses, Letsile Tebogo
Basketball: Rudy Fernández
Cricket: Steve Waugh
Cycling: Chris Hoy
Football: Kosovare Asllani, Cafu, Fabio Capello, Fernando Carro, Iker Casillas, Luis de la Fuente, Luis Figo, Ruud Gullit, Robin Le Normand, Rafael Louzán
Gymnastics: Rebeca Andrade, Simone Biles, Nadia Comăneci, Li Xiaopeng
Hockey: Luciana Aymar
Kayaking: Saúl Craviotto
Motor Racing: Zak Brown, Emerson Fittipaldi,
Para Archery: Matt Stutzman
Para Athletics: Tanni Grey-Thompson
Para Badminton: Qu Zimo
Para Fencing: Bebe Vio
Para Swimming: Daniel Dias, Teresa Perales, Jiang Yuyan
Rowing: Steve Redgrave
Rugby: Sean Fitzpatrick (Laureus Academy Chairman), Bryan Habana, Hugo Porta
Skiing: Eileen Gu, Maria Hőfl-Riesch
Squash: Nicol David
Surfing: Kelly Slater
Swimming: Ariarne Titmus
Tennis: Carlos Alcaraz, Paula Badosa, Mansour Bahrami, Boris Becker, Belinda Bencic, Novak Djokovic, Garbiñe Muguruza, Aryna Sabalenka, Stefanos Tsitsipas
Windsurfing: Robby Naish
Media who wish to attend the Laureus World Sports Awards should apply as soon as possible for accreditation. In addition to reporting on the Awards Ceremony, media attending will have the opportunity to interview Laureus Academy Members and other sportsmen and women present in Madrid.
In addition to celebrating the sporting success of 2025, the Laureus World Sports Awards are also a platform to showcase Laureus Sport for Good, which uses the power of sport to end violence, discrimination and inequality, showing how sport can change the world. Today Laureus supports more than 300 programmes in over 50 countries, working to transform society and improve the lives of young people. Since its inception in 2000, Laureus Sport for Good has used the power of sport to improve the lives of more than six-and-a-half million children and young adults.
The impact of the Awards is a key element to both the planning and delivery of the 2025 event. Working closely with both Host Partners, Madrid City Council and the Regional Government of Madrid, Laureus will bring the expertise and support of Laureus Sport for Good to leave a lasting legacy for the young people of the city and region of Madrid.
The full list of Nominees is:
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 (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 SPORTPERSON OF THE YEAR WITH A DISABILITY AWARD
Catherine Debrunner (Switzerland) Para Athletics – won five gold medals and a silver at the Paris Paralympics
Teresa Perales (Spain) Para 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) Para Archery – became first-ever armless para-archery champion to win Olympic gold
Jiang Yuyan (China) Para Swimming – most-decorated athlete at Paralympics, she won seven golds from seven events
Qu Zimo (China) Para 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 in 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 also 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
