A look at players nominated for Laureus World Sportsman of Year Award 2025

This year will mark the 25th anniversary of the most prestigious sporting honours.

The Laureus World Sportsman of Year Award is an annual ceremony that honours achievements in individual and team events in sports based on performances over the previous year. It was established in 1999 by Laureus Sport for Good Foundation founding patrons Richemont and Daimler. Roger Federer has won the greatest number of awards (6), while Tiger Woods has received the most nominations (12).

The first Laureus World Sports Awards were held in Monaco in 2000. Since this year marks the silver jubilee of that momentous day, the special anniversary edition set to be held on April 21 in Madrid will celebrate the growth of Laureus as a unique sporting movement.

Also Read: Full list of Indian athletes nominated for Laureus World Sports Awards

The Laureus World Sportsman of the Year Award is given as a tribute to the performances of individual men sportspersons over the past year. Novak Djokovic, the current holder of the award, has won this title the joint most times (along with Federer five times).

This year, five nominations have been made for the greatest sporting honor for men. Here are the five elite personalities, one of whom will forever be etched in sporting history, based on voting by 69 sporting legends of the Laureus World Sports Academy:

Carlos Alcaraz (Tennis)

After announcing himself on the big stage in 2023, Carlos Alcaraz maintained the momentum last year. He first defended his title at the India Wells. The Spaniard recovered from a poor start to the clay season to win his first French Open title.

He defeated arch-rival Jannik Sinner in the semifinal and Alexander Zverev in the final. Alcaraz then went on to win his fourth Major title, defeating Novak Djokovic in the Wimbledon final for the second successive year. He became the youngest to achieve the Career Surface Slam and the Channel Slam. The 21-year-old also reached the final of the Paris Olympics but was disappointed against Djokovic in the final.

Mondo Duplantis (Athletics: Pole Vault)

This is the third successive year that Armand ‘Mondo’ Duplantis is being nominated for the Laureus Sportsman of the Year award. The Swede has redefined the word ‘domination’. Duplantis began the year with victories at the World Indoor Athletics Championships, the Xiamen Diamond League, and the European Championships.

At the Paris Olympics, the Swede was the only athlete to breach the six-metre mark. With a clearance of 6.25 m, he set a new Olympic record and broke his world record to retain the gold medal he had earned at the Tokyo 2020 Games.

Also Read: Major Dhyanchand Khel Ratna Award: List of all winners

Duplantis then improved his world record for the tenth time, at the Silesian Diamond League, by clearing 6.26m. The 25-year-old was later crowned the European Athlete of the Year and concluded the season with a fourth consecutive Diamond League trophy at the final in Brussels.

Leon Marchand (Swimmer)

Leon Marchand gets the biggest opportunity of a lifetime: a chance to compete on home turf during the Paris Olympics 2024. He finished with the most gold medals among individual participants and was joint-second in the list of athletes with most medals. He finished at the top of the podium in the 400m Individual Medley, the 200m Individual Medley, the 200m Butterfly, and the 200m Breaststroke events.

The latter two were achieved on the same day (a feat which even Michael Phelps or Mark Spitz couldn’t achieve), with the finals being held at a gap of less than two hours. He was also part of the bronze medal-winning 100m Medley Relay team.

At just 22, Marchand, termed as the next Phelps by the man himself, got the honour of extinguishing the Olympic flame at the closing ceremony. He then clinched gold in all three medley events (100 IM, 200 IM, and 400 IM) at all three World Cup legs: Shanghai, Incheon, and Singapore, breaking the 200m short course record at the latter leg. He was named the World Aquatics male swimmer of the year.

Tadej Pogacar (Cycling)

Tadej Pogacar had one of the most sensational seasons in cycling history, winning 25 races in 2024, with all but one of them being on the World Tour Level. To give further context to this, compatriot Primož Roglič finished a distant second with eight wins. He started on the right note, winning the Strade Bianche with a lead of over two and a half minutes.

The Slovenian then secured victory in the Liège–Bastogne–Liège, winning his sixth career monument. Things got better as he clinched the Giro d’Italia with a massive winning margin of 9:56 minutes. He then won his third and arguably his best Tour de France title. Pogacar put on the maillot jaune after Stage 4 and wore it until the end of the race.

He also became the first non-sprinter since 1938 to reign supreme in three consecutive stages at the Tour. In an unprecedented fashion, the cyclist attacked with over 100km left at the UCI World Championships and rode solo for the final 50km to become just the third male cyclist to complete the Triple Crown.

Max Verstappen (Motor Racing)

Max Verstappen is the only name among the five to have won the Sportsman of the Year award previously, having received the same in 2022. Amazingly, this is his fourth consecutive nomination for the biggest sporting honour.

The Dutch racer won nine Grand Prix during the year, taking his career tally to 63. Driving for Oracle Red Bull Racing, he started off the season with his fifth career grand slam at the Bahrain Grand Prix, and went on to claim victory at Saudi Arabia, Japan, China, Emilia Romagna (where he matched Ayrton Senna’s record of eight consecutive poles), Canada, Spain, Sao Paulo and Qatar.

The Sao Paulo Race was widely appreciated, considering he had started the race in tough weather conditions from 17th following an engine penalty, while arch-rival Lando Norris qualified on pole. The 27-year-old clinched his fourth Formula One World Championship, making him just the sixth driver ever.

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