Biles, Duplantis and Nadal take centre stage at 25th anniversary Laureus World Sports Awards
“25 years ago a global movement began,” said Sean Fitzpatrick, the chairman of the Laureus World Sports Academy, as an audience of sporting legends watched on. In the end, this was a night dominated by significant numbers. 25 years of Laureus. 47 Nominees. Ten winners. 17, the age of the youngest winner; 53, the age of the oldest.
The 25th anniversary Laureus World Sports Awards, at the beautiful Palacio de Cibeles in Madrid, was unforgettable. Simone Biles and Mondo Duplantis, Olympic champions both, were named the Sportswoman and Sportsman of the Year. Rebeca Andrade, Biles’ great rival from the world of gymnastics, was honoured for the Comeback of the Year. Their fellow Olympians Tom Pidcock and JIANG Yuyan each added a Laureus to their laurels. In the home of the reigning Spanish and European champions, Real Madrid were named Team of the Year, while Barcelona’s wonderkid Lamine Yamal won the Laureus World Breakthrough of the Year Award.
The greatest surfer of all time, Kelly Slater, received the Laureus Lifetime Achievement Award. And to close a show that was broadcast all over the world and generated millions of views as the conversation continued on social, Rafael Nadal had the Palacio de Cibeles on its feet as he received the Laureus Sporting Icon Award.
25 years after the inaugural Laureus World Sports Awards were held in Monaco in 2000, this special anniversary edition of the greatest show in sports was also a celebration of the growth of Laureus as a unique sporting movement – encompassing the world-famous Awards and the work of Laureus Sport for Good in over 40 countries. One of more than 300 programmes supported by Laureus was awarded the Laureus Sport for Good Award – Kick4Life, a football project in Lesotho shared the stage with the biggest names in global sport and brought the conversation back to the words of Nelson Mandela on the stage a quarter of a century ago: Sport has the power to change the world.
As clips and images were shared on social media by the biggest names in sport and their fans, the focus turned to the destination of ‘The Laureus’: the statuette awarded to the winner in each category and the prize the greatest athletes in the world value above all other Awards – voted on by the 69 sporting legends of the Laureus World Sports Academy. One of them – Lindsey Vonn, one of the greatest skiers of all time – presented the Awards in front of an audience of champions.
The Olympic and Paralympic Games were at the heart of the sporting year in 2024 – and this year’s list of Laureus winners includes several athletes who added a Laureus to their collection of gold.
First to the stage was Mondo Duplantis. He was awarded the Laureus World Sportsman of the Year Award after being nominated in each of the last three years and is the second track-and-field athlete to win this Award, after four-time winner Usain Bolt.
Still just 25 years old, Duplantis broke his own world record for a remarkable ninth time in 2024 on the way to gold in Paris, before shattering it again at the Silesia Diamond League meeting the following month. Duplantis received his Award from last year’s winner, Novak Djokovic.
Mondo Duplantis said: “Thank you to Laureus and the Academy. I’m truly honoured. I’m a product of my environment and I want to shout out my mum and dad, [my girlfriend] Desiree and all my family.” Asked by Djokovic if he believes he can add to his 11 world records, he added: “I think there’s more in the tank.”
Real Madrid were honoured with the Laureus World Team of the Year Award after a season in which they won La Liga for a record 36th time, delivered a 15th UEFA Champions League/European Cup title, and defeated rivals Barcelona 4-1 in the Supercopa de España. The club continued to sweep aside all before them at the beginning of the 2024-25 season, winning both the UEFA Super Cup and Intercontinental Cup, an achievement which saw Carlo Ancelotti become Madrid’s most decorated manager.
Real Madrid’s legendary midfielder Luka Modric accepted the Award and said: “On behalf of Real Madrid we are really proud to receive this prestigious Award. We had a great season and won so many trophies – we are a team who are always pushing to reach the highest levels, and we reached them.”
Lamine Yamal was the recipient of the Laureus World Breakthrough of the Year Award after emerging as one of football’s global superstars. As part of the Spain team which won Euro 2024, he became the youngest player to score in the European Championships as well as the youngest to feature in the final and was named Best Young Player of the tournament. He is only the second footballer to win this Award, after Jude Bellingham, the Real Madrid midfielder who won it last year.
With Barcelona gunning for glory in both La Liga and the Champions League, Yamal received his Award via video following an introduction from former Barcelona, Liverpool and Bayern Munich midfielder Thiago Alcantara.
Lamine Yamal said: “I'd like to thank the Laureus Academy for the Award. It's a proud moment for me and my family to receive this Award. I don't want to forget the staff of Barça and Spanish national team, especially my teammates. Without them I would never have made it here.”
Kelly Slater is the greatest surfer of all time, an 11-time world champion and tonight the recipient of the Laureus Lifetime Achievement Award. Slater, a four-time winner of the Laureus World Action Sportsperson of the Year Award, received his latest Laureus from Robby Naish, the 24-time world windsurfing champion and a Laureus Academy Member.
In an emotional speech, Kelly Slater thanked the Academy and also admitted to goosebumps at hearing a famous voice narrate his tribute video. He added: “It was amazing to have my all-time favourite actor Bill Murray do the voiceover! He’s been around the surf world for 40 years, so he knows what he is talking about.”
Our next winner was the Paralympic swimming superstar JIANG Yuyan, who collected the Laureus World Sportsperson of the Year with a Disability Award.
Yuyan was the most decorated athlete at the 2024 Paralympic Games, winning seven para swimming golds from seven events in the pool and setting two individual world records.
JIANG Yuyan said: “I work hard every day, but I don’t do it alone. To my coach, family, team and fans – you always inspire me, pushing me to chase my dreams. It was swimming that truly shaped me. In the water, I could move freely. So, to anyone who feels held back by your disability – don’t let anyone, not even yourself, put limits on what you can do. Chase your dreams because we are capable of so much more than we imagine.”
Tom Pidcock is the Laureus World Action Sportsperson of the Year after winning the Olympic mountain bike cross country title in unforgettable fashion. His hopes of defending the title he won in Tokyo appeared all but over after suffering a puncture, but Pidcock staged a stirring fightback to reel in home favourite Victor Koretsky before pulling off a daring late overtake to win gold against the odds.
As Laureus Academy Member Chris Hoy took to the stage to receive the Award, Pidcock accepted his honour via video.
Tom Pidcock said: “I’m sorry I can’t be with you tonight. At least for me, there's one positive – I prefer going downhill at 120km an hour in Lycra than being on a stage giving an acceptance speech in front of all you lot! Seriously, it's a huge honour to win this Award and have so many great legends recognising what I've achieved.”
Brazilian gymnast Rebeca Andrade completed her inspirational return from career-threatening injuries at the Paris Games, and she is this year’s recipient of the Laureus World Comeback of the Year Award.
Andrade’s long road back to the top was complete when she won gold in the floor competition – a moment memorialised forever by the image of her long-time rival Biles bowing to her as she stood at the top of the podium.
Accepting the Award from Brazilian football legend and Laureus World Sports Academy member Cafu, Rebeca Andrade said: “I feel very happy and honoured to win my first Laureus. I am very blessed to have a team and family who always believe in me, even in the moments when I don’t believe in myself. I would also like to make a special thanks to my friend and psychologist Aline.”
Cafu added: “At this moment, 220 million Brazilians are very proud of you, including me! You represent the smile and the joy of the Brazilian people.”
For 25 years, the Laureus World Sports Awards have seen the greatest athletes in the world share the stage with Laureus Sport for Good programmes that fulfil the mission defined by the founding patron of Laureus at the first Awards, Nelson Mandela: to use the power of sport to change the world.
Kick4Life is one of over 300 Laureus Sport for Good projects all over the world and they were presented with this year’s Laureus Sport for Good Award. Kick4Life uses football to reach at-risk children in Lesotho, promoting health education, life-skills development, gender rights and employability.
Accepting the Award from Laureus Chairman Sean Fitzpatrick and new Laureus Ambassador Eileen Gu, Kick4Life’s Motlatsi Nkhahle said: “Congrats to the other five incredible organisations who were nominated and the hundreds of organisations all over the world supported by Laureus. The Laureus family connects us to this wider global community of sport to which all of us here belong.”
Simone Biles’ breathtaking displays in the French capital saw her named Laureus World Sportswoman of the Year for the fourth time, equalling the record held by tennis great and compatriot Serena Williams – they both also have one Comeback of the Year Award.
Biles called the Paris Games her ‘redemption tour’ after taking a break from the sport, and the most decorated gymnast in history produced a stunning performance, picking up three golds and a silver. One year after winning that Comeback of the Year Award, her redemption is complete.
Simone Biles said: “I want to thank Laureus for this incredible honour. I’ve been dreaming of moments like this since I was a foster kid, so I have to say thank you to my parents for adopting me and my sister. To any foster kids – or kids in general – out there… go get ‘em, you got it. Never give up.”
The show closed with an emotional tribute to Rafael Nadal, who received the Laureus Sporting Icon Award after a year in which he announced the end of one of the greatest careers in the history of professional tennis.
He took to the stage after a moving video tribute showing some of his greatest moments and most fierce challenges, voiced by Hollywood legend Morgan Freeman.
Rafael Nadal said: “I didn't prepare for this amazing moment talking in front of all of you, but a lot of you have been sports people who have inspired me since I was a kid. Thanks to the Laureus Academy for thinking that I deserve this amazing award – and to the tennis world for everything it has given me during these unforgettable years. Finally, I want to thank Madrid, which has become the world capital of sport.”
Nadal adds another Award to his ‘Laureus Slam’ – he is the only athlete to have won the Sportsman of the Year Award, the Comeback of the Year, the Breakthrough of the Year and the Laureus Sport for Good Award.
A quarter of a century after the Laureus movement began in Monaco, Madrid saw it reach new heights. The Athletes’ Awards brought together the world’s greatest sportsmen and women in front of a global audience of millions to celebrate excellence and share the idea that, beyond the arena, sport’s power to change the world has never been stronger.
