Laureus Review of the Year 2025
Laureus has wrapped the perfect gift for sports fans, a review of the sporting year like no other. From Alcaraz and Sinner's tennis takeover to Formula One's new champion, it was a year when new superstars emerged.
It started with Luke and it ended with Lando. You don’t have to travel to a galaxy far, far away to see the sporting star wars of 2025 – we’ve got you covered with a first look at the Review of the Year video that has become an audience favourite at the Laureus World Sports Awards. This exclusive sneak peek at the film that will play at the 2026 Awards features the trilogy of Grand Slam duels between Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner; the return of Rory as McIlroy found redemption at Augusta; and the rise of Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, as the master of the 400m hurdles became champion of the world on the flat.
The action began on January 3, when Luke ‘The Nuke’ Littler won his first world darts title before his 18th birthday. By the year’s end he had won a further five majors and was the youngest player to complete the career Triple Crown of World Championship, Premier League and World Matchplay.
That month also saw the start of tennis’ Grand Slam. In Australia, Sinner defeated Alexander Zverev in the men’s final – the only time a major was not contested by the sport’s new duopoly. There was the first of four different women winners: Madison Keys claimed her first Slam, aged 29 and seeded 19th, overcoming the World No.1, Aryna Sabalenka.
For the rest of the year, it was Sinner vs Alcaraz: Carlos in France, the new king of clay; Jannik in London, his first Wimbledon crown; Alcaraz again in New York to level the score, en route to ending the year as No. 1. Meanwhile, Coco Gauff won a second major at Roland Garros; Iga Świątek proved she could win on grass at SW19; Sabalenka reminded them all who was No. 1, defending her US Open crown after falling in the first two major finals of 2025.
The action began on January 3, when Luke ‘The Nuke’ Littler won his first world darts title before his 18th birthday. By the year’s end he had won a further five majors and was the youngest player to complete the career Triple Crown of World Championship, Premier League and World Matchplay.
That month also saw the start of tennis’ Grand Slam. In Australia, Sinner defeated Alexander Zverev in the men’s final – the only time a major was not contested by the sport’s new duopoly. There was the first of four different women winners: Madison Keys claimed her first Slam, aged 29 and seeded 19th, overcoming the World No.1, Aryna Sabalenka.
For the rest of the year, it was Sinner vs Alcaraz: Carlos in France, the new king of clay; Jannik in London, his first Wimbledon crown; Alcaraz again in New York to level the score, en route to ending the year as No. 1. Meanwhile, Coco Gauff won a second major at Roland Garros; Iga Świątek proved she could win on grass at SW19; Sabalenka reminded them all who was No. 1, defending her US Open crown after falling in the first two major finals of 2025.
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In the wheelchair tennis events, another teenager harnessed the power of youth. Tokito Oda won in France, at Wimbledon and in New York to complete the career Golden Slam. In the women’s events, fellow Japanese Yui Kamiji had to wait a long time to get back to the top – since she was victorious at the 2020 US Open, every Grand Slam trophy had been etched with the name of Diede de Groot. In 2025, Kamiji won three of the four titles, also reaching the final at Wimbledon.
Super Bowl LIX in New Orleans pitted the Philadelphia Eagles against the back-to-back champions Kansas City Chiefs. Powered by quarterback Jalen Hurts, the Eagles soared to a 40-22 victory. Hurts was Super Bowl MVP, but their talisman on the journey to get there was running back Saquon Barkley. During the Super Bowl, he broke the record for rushing yards during a single season.
Sometimes, our heroes fight against not only their opponents, but mysterious, unseen forces. We had watched Rory McIlroy fall at Augusta before, but this time he overcame every obstacle to become the sixth golfer to complete a career Grand Slam. Scottie Scheffler has time on his side and at 29 years of age needs only the US Open, after winning both the PGA Championship and The Open in 2025.
Those two faced off in the singles at the Ryder Cup, but by then the European team had a lead they never looked like relinquishing. In front of a hostile crowd, called out most prominently by McIlroy, Europe landed the first away win by either team since 2012.
Super Bowl LIX in New Orleans pitted the Philadelphia Eagles against the back-to-back champions Kansas City Chiefs. Powered by quarterback Jalen Hurts, the Eagles soared to a 40-22 victory. Hurts was Super Bowl MVP, but their talisman on the journey to get there was running back Saquon Barkley. During the Super Bowl, he broke the record for rushing yards during a single season.
Sometimes, our heroes fight against not only their opponents, but mysterious, unseen forces. We had watched Rory McIlroy fall at Augusta before, but this time he overcame every obstacle to become the sixth golfer to complete a career Grand Slam. Scottie Scheffler has time on his side and at 29 years of age needs only the US Open, after winning both the PGA Championship and The Open in 2025.
Those two faced off in the singles at the Ryder Cup, but by then the European team had a lead they never looked like relinquishing. In front of a hostile crowd, called out most prominently by McIlroy, Europe landed the first away win by either team since 2012.
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Paris Saint-Germain became only the third team in men’s football to win six major titles in a calendar year: the domestic treble of Ligue 1, the Trophée des Champions and Coupe de France; the UEFA double of Champions League and Super Cup; and in December, the Intercontinental Cup, won in a shoot-out with Flamengo. Only Chelsea, in the final of the Club World Cup, prevented PSG from sweeping the board. Their 5-0 win over Inter in the final of the Champions League was the season’s standout performance by Luis Enrique’s young dynamos.
Inter Miami CF celebrated a first MLS Cup led by two-time MVP and Golden Boot winner, Lionel Messi. Liverpool were champions of England in Arne Slot’s first season as manager but by the time they took the field to begin the defence of their title, they were mourning the tragic loss of their forward, Diogo Jota, who died along with his brother, in a car crash.
Arsenal upset the dynastic Barcelona women’s team to deny them a third successive Champions League title – Leah Williamson was a mascot in 2007 when they last won club football’s greatest honour; this time she lifted the trophy as captain.
June saw the first Game Seven decider in the NBA since 2016 and it ended with Oklahoma City Thunder as a first-time champion, ending Indiana’s fairytale run to the finals. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander completed a remarkable, dominant year by becoming the first player since LeBron James in 2013 to win both the regular season and NBA Finals MVP awards.
In the WNBA, the Las Vegas Aces won a third title in four years, led by their own MVP: A’ja Wilson. The centre became the only player in either the NBA or WNBA to win the regular season MVP, Finals MVP, scoring title and Defensive Player of the Year awards in a single season.
Inter Miami CF celebrated a first MLS Cup led by two-time MVP and Golden Boot winner, Lionel Messi. Liverpool were champions of England in Arne Slot’s first season as manager but by the time they took the field to begin the defence of their title, they were mourning the tragic loss of their forward, Diogo Jota, who died along with his brother, in a car crash.
Arsenal upset the dynastic Barcelona women’s team to deny them a third successive Champions League title – Leah Williamson was a mascot in 2007 when they last won club football’s greatest honour; this time she lifted the trophy as captain.
June saw the first Game Seven decider in the NBA since 2016 and it ended with Oklahoma City Thunder as a first-time champion, ending Indiana’s fairytale run to the finals. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander completed a remarkable, dominant year by becoming the first player since LeBron James in 2013 to win both the regular season and NBA Finals MVP awards.
In the WNBA, the Las Vegas Aces won a third title in four years, led by their own MVP: A’ja Wilson. The centre became the only player in either the NBA or WNBA to win the regular season MVP, Finals MVP, scoring title and Defensive Player of the Year awards in a single season.
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In July, England’s Lionesses defended their European Championship title against the World Cup winners Spain in a blockbuster final matchup. Extra-time ended with the two locked at 1-1 before Chloe Kelly scored the decisive penalty.
In the same month, Tadej Pogačar won a fourth Tour de France title, the peak of another phenomenal season for cycling’s global superstar, who also defended his world championship and celebrated a 100th race win.
In Singapore, the world’s greatest swimmers duelled for gold medals and Summer McIntosh emerged with five of them. The 19-year-old broke world records in the 400m freestyle and the 200m and 400m medleys earlier in the year at the Canadian trials. In Singapore, Katie Ledecky added two more golds to her legend, for an unrivalled total of 23. Twice Ledecky and McIntosh met in a final, each winning one. Leon Marchand won double gold in the men’s medleys, setting a world record in the 200m event during the heats.
Later in the year, at the same venue, the World Para Swimming Championships saw Simone Barlaam increase his collection of gold medals in the S9 category to 21 with victory in the freestyle over 50m, 100m and 400m, plus the 100 butterfly.
As autumn neared, England’s Red Roses refused to wilt. After successive defeats in the final of the Rugby World Cup, they won on home soil, rolling over Canada to complete a peerless tournament and a rare double, following their Six Nations victory in the spring.
In the same month, Tadej Pogačar won a fourth Tour de France title, the peak of another phenomenal season for cycling’s global superstar, who also defended his world championship and celebrated a 100th race win.
In Singapore, the world’s greatest swimmers duelled for gold medals and Summer McIntosh emerged with five of them. The 19-year-old broke world records in the 400m freestyle and the 200m and 400m medleys earlier in the year at the Canadian trials. In Singapore, Katie Ledecky added two more golds to her legend, for an unrivalled total of 23. Twice Ledecky and McIntosh met in a final, each winning one. Leon Marchand won double gold in the men’s medleys, setting a world record in the 200m event during the heats.
Later in the year, at the same venue, the World Para Swimming Championships saw Simone Barlaam increase his collection of gold medals in the S9 category to 21 with victory in the freestyle over 50m, 100m and 400m, plus the 100 butterfly.
As autumn neared, England’s Red Roses refused to wilt. After successive defeats in the final of the Rugby World Cup, they won on home soil, rolling over Canada to complete a peerless tournament and a rare double, following their Six Nations victory in the spring.
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September took us to Tokyo for the World Athletics Championships and a series of scene-stealing performances. Oblique Seville became the latest Jamaican sprinter to stand on top of the podium with 100m gold round his neck. Melissa Jefferson-Wooden didn’t stop there – the American completed the sprint treble of 100m, 200m and 4x100m relay. The peerless Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone was Olympic and world champion and the world record holder over the 400m hurdles. This time she conquered the 400m flat, winning gold with the second fastest time in history before anchoring the US 4x400m relay team to another title.
In the 1500m Faith Kipyegon won a fourth world championship to go with three Olympic golds over the same distance – and she broke her own world record this year, at the Prefontaine Classic in Oregon, USA. That’s something the 2025 Laureus World Sportsman of the Year, Mondo Duplantis, does regularly and when he cleared 6.30m to win his third men’s pole vault world gold, it was the fourth time in 2025 that he had improved his own mark. Duplantis was named European and World Athlete of the Year.
In New Delhi, India, the World Para Athletics Championships produced its own heroes, including Ecuador’s Kiara Briggite Rodríguez España, the T46/47 athlete who won gold in the 100m, 200m and long jump, setting two world records.
In MotoGP, two incredible storylines overlapped. The Márquez brothers, Marc and Alex, racing for different teams, finished the season in the top two places. And for Marc, this was the completion of a comeback story for the ages: his seventh world title was also his first since 2019. A complex arm fracture sustained in a crash the following year resulted in multiple surgeries and a lengthy fightback for one of the sport’s all-time greats.
In the 1500m Faith Kipyegon won a fourth world championship to go with three Olympic golds over the same distance – and she broke her own world record this year, at the Prefontaine Classic in Oregon, USA. That’s something the 2025 Laureus World Sportsman of the Year, Mondo Duplantis, does regularly and when he cleared 6.30m to win his third men’s pole vault world gold, it was the fourth time in 2025 that he had improved his own mark. Duplantis was named European and World Athlete of the Year.
In New Delhi, India, the World Para Athletics Championships produced its own heroes, including Ecuador’s Kiara Briggite Rodríguez España, the T46/47 athlete who won gold in the 100m, 200m and long jump, setting two world records.
In MotoGP, two incredible storylines overlapped. The Márquez brothers, Marc and Alex, racing for different teams, finished the season in the top two places. And for Marc, this was the completion of a comeback story for the ages: his seventh world title was also his first since 2019. A complex arm fracture sustained in a crash the following year resulted in multiple surgeries and a lengthy fightback for one of the sport’s all-time greats.
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When it comes to sporting cinema, Laureus celebrates the action heroes. The World Surf League gave us two new champions. Australia’s Molly Picklum and Yago Dora of Brazil were crowned after the finals in Fiji. In São Paulo, Brazil, they cheered a homegrown hero as the incredible Rayssa Leal won her fourth consecutive Street League Skateboarding Super Crown World Championship.
Even Hollywood scriptwriters would raise an eyebrow at the idea of one athlete winning all but one of the seven marathon Majors. Marcel Hug, the two-time winner of the Laureus World Sportsperson of the Year with a Disability Award, crossed the line first in Boston, Berlin, Sydney, London, Chicago and New York.
Equally improbable is the idea of one of Major League Baseball’s top three batters also being one of the sport’s elite pitchers, but Shohei Ohtani proved such a mythical being walks the earth. As the Los Angeles Dodgers became the first team to successfully defend the World Series championship since the 2000 New York Yankees, their Japanese superstar won a fourth regular-season MVP award.
The Women’s Cricket World Cup final in Mumbai gave us a classic and sparked wild celebrations in the host nation as India won a first title. They set South Africa a gigantic chase of 298, but it was looming into view with five overs remaining when Deepti Sharma, the player of the tournament, took her fifth wicket of the final to win the trophy for India.
Even Hollywood scriptwriters would raise an eyebrow at the idea of one athlete winning all but one of the seven marathon Majors. Marcel Hug, the two-time winner of the Laureus World Sportsperson of the Year with a Disability Award, crossed the line first in Boston, Berlin, Sydney, London, Chicago and New York.
Equally improbable is the idea of one of Major League Baseball’s top three batters also being one of the sport’s elite pitchers, but Shohei Ohtani proved such a mythical being walks the earth. As the Los Angeles Dodgers became the first team to successfully defend the World Series championship since the 2000 New York Yankees, their Japanese superstar won a fourth regular-season MVP award.
The Women’s Cricket World Cup final in Mumbai gave us a classic and sparked wild celebrations in the host nation as India won a first title. They set South Africa a gigantic chase of 298, but it was looming into view with five overs remaining when Deepti Sharma, the player of the tournament, took her fifth wicket of the final to win the trophy for India.
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The two championships in Formula One followed divergent plotlines. The Constructors’ story was decided in Singapore in September, when McLaren’s early-season dominance put them in an unassailable position with six rounds remaining. However, a drivers’ championship that had appeared as a shootout between McLaren’s young guns – Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri – was disrupted as Max Verstappen won six of the last nine races, including the final round where those three shared the podium, meaning Norris claimed his first title and stopped Verstappen’s run of wins at four.
“Putting together the Review of the Year film isn’t just a highlight of the Laureus World Sports Awards, it’s the first chance for us to look back on the sporting year as a whole,” said Sean Fitzpatrick, chair of the Laureus World Sports Academy. “We’re delighted to share this first look with you – and it should also start us all thinking about which of these fantastic athletes will make it to the shortlists for the Awards when they are announced in the New Year!”
From the starter’s pistol to the chequered flag, for the sports fan, 2025 was a breathless adventure, an unmissable spectacle. You can relive it now, with Laureus.
“Putting together the Review of the Year film isn’t just a highlight of the Laureus World Sports Awards, it’s the first chance for us to look back on the sporting year as a whole,” said Sean Fitzpatrick, chair of the Laureus World Sports Academy. “We’re delighted to share this first look with you – and it should also start us all thinking about which of these fantastic athletes will make it to the shortlists for the Awards when they are announced in the New Year!”
From the starter’s pistol to the chequered flag, for the sports fan, 2025 was a breathless adventure, an unmissable spectacle. You can relive it now, with Laureus.
