At the first Laureus Awards to be held in the UK, Novak Djokovic emerged victorious by taking home the Sportsman of the Year Award and the all-conquering football club FC Barcelona took home Team of the Year.
It was Laureus Patron Nelson Mandela who said "Sport has the power to change the world." And, to this day, nothing sums up the Laureus philosophy quite so well.
Take a look back to see how one businessman's idea to celebrate the best in sport has grown into a movement that now changes the lives of thousands of children for the better.
It's not just Laureus who are passionate about the power of sport to change the world. The support of our Global Partners is vital to the ongoing success of our work across the world.
Having won four Olympic medals, Sebastian Coe remains one of the great names of British sport. In addition to being a Laureus Academy Member, he currently serves as Chairman of the London 2012 Olympic Organising Committee.
Five times an Olympic champion, Johnson piled up a career total of nine World Championship gold medals by the time he retired from competition after the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games. Between 1990 and 1997, he created a remarkable sequence of 58 consecutive wins over 400 metres.
Celebrating the year’s greatest achievements in sport and promoting the groundbreaking work of the Sport for Good Foundation, find out more about the world’s most prestigious sports awards here.
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