2023 Laureus World Sports Awards: Which Olympians have been nominated?
Ahead of the award ceremony taking place in Paris, France on 8 May, Olympics.com takes a closer look at the Olympians nominated for this year’s top prizes.
8 minBy Olympics.com
The 2023 Laureus World Sports Awards, being held in Paris, France on Monday 8 May, will have a strong Olympic flavour.
There are 19 Olympians among the nominees across several of the award categories. That includes multiple gold-medal winners, Mikaela Shiffrin, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce and Rafael Nadal.
With the awards ceremony recognising the world's greatest athletes and teams, as well as the inspirational power of sport, many of the Olympians nominated have made a strong case to be chosen as award winners over the past year.
Ahead of the ceremony, Olympics.com runs the rule over the Olympic nominees in each category.
2023 Laureus Awards: Sportswoman of the Year
The 2023 Laureus Award Sportswoman of the Year Award features five Olympic nominees: Jamaica’s athletics icon Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, Team USA swimmer Katie Ledecky, track star Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, alpine skiing record-breaker Mikaela Shiffrin, and tennis world No.1 Iga Świątek.
Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce
Fraser-Pryce underlined her credentials as one of the greatest track and field athletes of all time when she won her fifth career World Championship gold medal in the women's 100 metres sprint in Eugene. In claiming the crown at 35 years old, the Jamaican also became the oldest sprinter to win a world title gesturing to her dominance in the discipline.
Iga Świątek
2022 was the year Poland’s Świątek consolidated her claim at the top of women’s tennis. As well as winning six WTA Championship titles, The French Open at Roland Garros, and the US Open, the 21-year-old went 37 games unbeaten, rewarding her with the longest winning streak in the sport in the 21st century.
Mikaela Shiffrin
Shiffrin skied her way to sporting immortality when surpassed Ingemar Stenmark’s record for career alpine World Cup victories by any skier, male or female.
The feat was considered all the more impressive coming off the back of a disappointing Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics where the American was a favourite to win multiple medals but fell short of her target in every one of her six events.
Katie Ledecky
Five-time Sportswoman of the Year nominee Ledecky gets the nod again after scooping up four golds at the FINA Aquatics World Championships in Budapest. Her haul in Hungary, which took her World Championship career medal total to 22, saw her eclipse Natalie Coughlin as the most successful female swimmer at the event.
Later in the year, Ledecky continued to write even more history, setting new short course 800m and 1500m world records at the FINA Swimming World Cup.
Syndey McLaughlin-Levrone
2022 was the year 400m hurdles Olympic champion McLaughlin-Levrone became the ruler of her discipline.
At the World Athletics Championships in Eugene, Oregon, the 23-year-old American added a world title to her resume and did so in emphatic fashion setting a new world record of 50.68 seconds, breaking her previous mark by 0.73 seconds. McLaughlin-Levrone also claimed gold as part of the US 4x400m relay team.
Sprint great Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce: How I want to be remembered
2023 Laureus Awards: Sportsman of the Year
The nominees for 2023 Laureus Award Sportsman of the Year Award feature three Olympic stars: pole vault sensation Armand Mondo Duplantis of Sweden, football legend Lionel Messi, and Spain’s tennis hot-shot Rafael Nadal.
Mondo Duplantis
Duplantis, the undisputed king of pole vault, has peppered his reign with yet another stunning year of results.
Following his Olympic gold at Tokyo 2020 in 2021, the Swede swept the competition scene winning the World Athletics Outdoor and Indoor Championships, the European Championships, and the Diamond League season title. This year Duplantis improved his world record to 6.22m indoors and outdoors.
Rafael Nadal
Even in his twilight years, tennis star Nadal continues to be a force to be reckoned with.
In 2022, the Spaniard claimed his 21st and 22nd career Grand Slam victories at the Australian and French Open respectively, to tie with Novak Djokovic for the most majors won by a player in men’s singles.
Lionel Messi
Messi confirmed himself as one of the greatest football players of all time by inspiring his country to victory at the 2022 FIFA World Cup. The 35-year-old was instrumental in Argentina's men clinching the title, scoring seven goals including two in the final against France.
2023 Laureus Awards: World Breakthrough of the Year
Three Olympians feature in the Laureus World Breakthrough of the Year category: Kazakh tennis player Elena Rybakina, American figure skater Nathan Chen, and Nigerian hurdler Tobi Amusan.
Elena Rybakina
Kazakhstan’s tennis ace Rybakina put her name up in lights last summer when she defeated Tunisia’s Ons Jabeur to win at Wimbledon. Just 23 years old when she won her first Grand Slam, Rybakina is the youngest Wimbledon champion since Olympic bronze medallist Petra Kvitova, who was victorious at the All-England Club in 2011.
Nathan Chen
American figure skater Chen authored one of the most memorable moments of Beijing 2022 after he brought an end to the reign of Japanese star Yuzuru Hanyu to win Olympic gold. Regarded as one of the best figure skaters of all time, Chen holds the highest winning percentage in competitions in the modern era.
Tobi Amusan
Nigerian Amusan responded to a disappointing Tokyo 2020 by winning gold in the 100m hurdles at the World Athletics Championships in Eugene and broke a world record in the process. With her victory, Amusan became the first Nigerian world champion and world record holder in an athletics event. She later capped her year by winning gold in the 100m hurdles and 4x100m relay at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.
Nathan Chen: How changing the sport is about more than a ‘quad’
2023 Laureus Awards: World Comeback of the Year
Three Olympians headline the Laureus World Comeback of the Year category with Dutch road cyclist Annemiek Van Vleuten, 1500m runner Jakob Ingebrigtsen, and basketball star Klay Thompson featuring.
Annemiek Van Vleuten
39-year-old Van Vleuten receives the nomination after winning last year’s Women’s Tour de France even when illness looked to threaten her race. Her triumph meant she became the first woman to win both the Tour de France and Giro d’Italia in the same year.
Jakob Ingebrigtsen
After having been beaten to 1500m gold by Jake Wightman in one of the most shocking races at the World Athletics Championships, reigning Olympic champion Ingebrigtsen responded by winning the 5000m titles just five days later, beating a stacked field including world record holder Joshua Cheptegei.
Staying strong, the Norwegian then went on to win both 1500m and 500m at the European Championships before later banking the Diamond League 1500m title.
Klay Thompson
It took 31 months for Golden State Warriors star player Thompson to return to the basketball court from injury but the wait proved to be well worth it. The 33-year-old's comeback helped lift them to their fourth NBA Championship in eight seasons and Thompson proved himself clutch when it counted.
Rayssa Leal: How working with a psychologist has made me a better skateboarder
2023 Laureus Awards: World Action Sportsperson of the Year
Four Olympians are nominated in the Laureus World Action Sportsperson of the Year category: Team USA Beijing 2022 snowboard star Chloe Kim, People’s Republic of China freeskier Ailing (Eileen) Gu, surfer Stephanie Gilmore, and Brazilian skateboarder Rayssa Leal.
Rayssa Leal
It’s been a remarkable 12 months for 15-year-old Leal. After winning silver at the Tokyo Olympics, the Brazilian won her first X Games gold in Chiba, Japan in April before then claiming the SLS Super Crown in emphatic style, winning all three tour stops en route to victory. Shortly after, Leal continued her reign of dominance by winning the 2022 World Street Skateboarding Championships in Sharjah, UAE.
Stephanie Gilmore
Australia’s Gilmore became the most successful female surfer in history after winning a record-breaking eighth world title at World Championships in California last year.
Up against five-time champion Carissa Moore for the crown, no greater test could have been written for the Australian who also owns the most World Surf League wins (33) by any woman.
Chloe Kim
Two-time Laureus Award winner Kim is back on the nominee list after winning her second consecutive Olympic halfpipe gold at the Beijing Winter Games. It marked the first time a female snowboarder has successfully defended their title in the event.
Ailing (Eileen) Gu
Freestyle skier Gu broke new ground at Beijing 2022 when she won two Olympic golds in big air and halfpipe and a silver in slopestyle. Just 18 years old, she became the youngest freestyle skiing Olympic champion and the first to win three medals at a single Games.
