Lionel Messi, the former World Cup-winning captain of Argentina, has been declared the Laureus Sportsman of the Year, with Jamaican sprinter Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce winning the women’s category. On Monday, the awards ceremony was held where Messi was also awarded for the Argentina men’s football team, who were named the World Team of the Year following their triumph at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
This is Messi’s second time winning the Laureus award, having previously shared it with Formula One driver Lewis Hamilton in 2020. Messi is the first athlete to receive both the World Sportsman of the Year and the World Team of the Year awards in the same year. He stated, “It really sunk in what unbelievable company I’m in and what a unique honour this is,” while looking at the list of previous winners of the Sportsman of the Year award.
Fraser-Pryce had a spectacular year in 2022, winning the 100m gold at the World Athletics Championships. Meanwhile, tennis player Carlos Alcaraz, who won the 2022 U.S. Open and became the number one in the ATP rankings, was named the Laureus World Breakthrough of the Year. Christian Eriksen, who recovered from the cardiac arrest he suffered at the European Championship in 2021 to return to Premier League football with Brentford and then Manchester United before competing at the World Cup with Denmark, was awarded the Laureus World Comeback of the Year Award.
The Laureus World Sports Awards nominees are selected by the global media, while the winners are determined by the 71 members of the Laureus World Sports Academy. The awards have been presented annually since their inception in 2000.
List of winners:
World Sportsman of the Year Award: Lionel Messi
World Sportswoman of the Year Award: Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce
World Team of the Year Award: Argentina Men’s Football Team
World Breakthrough of the Year Award: Carlos Alcaraz
World Comeback of the Year Award: Christian Eriksen
World Sportsperson of the Year with a Disability Award: Catherine Debrunner
World Action Sportsperson of the Year Award: Eileen Gu
Laureus Sport for Good Award: TeamUp
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