Former tennis player Rafael Nadal and Paris 2024 Olympic champions Armand Duplantis, Simone Biles, and Rebeca Andrade were among the top winners at the 2025 Laureus World Sports Awards held in Madrid, according to Olympics.com.
The event marked the 25th edition of the prestigious awards ceremony, celebrating the world’s most outstanding athletes.
Eleven-time world surfing champion Kelly Slater received the Laureus Lifetime Achievement Award, while Nadal was honoured with the Laureus Sporting Icon Award to a standing ovation from a hall filled with sporting legends.
The red carpet saw a host of global sports stars, including freestyle skiing sensation Eileen Gu, football World Cup winner Paulo Dybala, gymnastics icon Nadia Comaneci, and cycling legend Chris Hoy. Alpine skiing champion Lindsey Vonn hosted the ceremony for the second time in four years.
The evening began with last year’s Sportsman of the Year, Novak Djokovic, presenting the award to Swedish pole vaulter Armand ‘Mondo’ Duplantis. Duplantis made history by becoming the first back-to-back Olympic men’s pole vault champion in over 50 years, while also breaking the world record for the ninth time.
“I’m proud of myself for putting in the work and grinding through it to be here among the greatest athletes in the world. This is a once-in-a-lifetime type of award, and I’m not going to take it for granted,” Duplantis said.
Simone Biles and Rebeca Andrade were named World Sportswoman of the Year and World Comeback of the Year, respectively. The American and Brazilian gymnasts shared several podiums at the Paris Games and praised each other’s resilience and achievements.
“Paris showed that camaraderie can exist between competitors. Simone and I are the only gymnasts to win a Laureus Award, and I hope our stories inspire others facing injuries and setbacks to keep going,” Andrade said.
Great Britain’s Tom Pidcock won the World Action Sportsperson of the Year Award after a dramatic mountain biking gold at Paris 2024, where he overcame a punctured tyre to defend his Tokyo title.
Chinese para-swimmer Jiang Yuyan was awarded Sportsperson of the Year with a Disability after winning seven gold medals in seven events at Paris 2024, matching a record last achieved by Mark Spitz at the 1972 Olympics.
Football was also celebrated, with Real Madrid named World Team of the Year and 17-year-old Lamine Yamal, a standout performer in Spain’s Euro 2024 campaign, named Breakthrough of the Year.
The Sport for Good Award was given to Kick4Life, a foundation in Lesotho that uses football to educate young people about HIV prevention.
Kelly Slater, widely regarded as the greatest surfer of all time, reflected on his journey: “As a kid, I wasn’t sure if someone from my area in Florida could win a world title. Now we have 22 world titles from our state. You have to believe you can achieve something for it to happen.”
Slater, previously nominated in 2006 and a multiple-time winner in the Action Sportsperson category, highlighted the value of peer recognition: “This is judged by your peers. That’s the highest honour.”
The night concluded with a standing ovation for Rafael Nadal, who retired in 2024. He became only the second recipient of the Laureus Sporting Icon Award, following Valentino Rossi in 2022.
“Tennis and sport have given me so much. I’ve always tried to give my best every time I stepped on the court,” Nadal said. “I hope my career has inspired others. As I move on to the next chapter, I aim to continue using sport to make a positive impact.”
Full list of winners at the 2025 Laureus World Sports Awards:
– World Sportsman of the Year: Mondo Duplantis
– World Sportswoman of the Year: Simone Biles
– World Team of the Year: Real Madrid
– World Breakthrough of the Year: Lamine Yamal
– World Comeback of the Year: Rebeca Andrade
– Sportsperson of the Year with a Disability: Jiang Yuyan
– World Action Sportsperson of the Year: Tom Pidcock
– Sport for Good Award: Kick4Life
– Sporting Icon Award: Rafael Nadal
– Lifetime Achievement Award: Kelly Slater
(ANI)
