The Spaniards Carlos Alcaraz, Rafael Nadal and Alexia Putellas, the Argentine Leo Messi and the Frenchman Kylian Mbappé are among Real Madrid and the Argentine soccer team among the nominees for the 2023 Laureus World Sports Awards, after a vote carried out by sports media of all the world.
Laureus announced this Monday the names of the candidates for its distinctions, whose winners will be revealed in the spring after the vote by the jury of its Academy, made up of 71 of the greatest sports legends of all time.
The tennis player Rafael Nadal, three times winner, and the FC Barcelona captain Alexia Putellas, who is nominated again for the second consecutive year, will compete for the world sportsman of the year award, to which PSG players Messi and Mbappé are also nominated, after their performance at the World Cup in Qatar.
Nadal is once again a candidate after having won the Australian Open and Roland Garros in 2022, with which he reached 22 victories in a Grand Slam and became the fourth athlete, along with Roy Emerson, Rod Laver and Novak Djokovic, to win the big four at least twice.
Together with the Argentine Leo Messi with his victory in the World Cup in Qatar and the runner-up for the Frenchman Kylian Mbappé, the list of candidates for the best in the men's category is completed by the Belgian Max Verstappen, two-time Formula 1 world champion, the Swedish Mondo Duplantis, pole vault world record holder, and the American Stephen Curry, MVP of the NBA finals.
In the women's category, the captain of FC Barcelona, Alexia Putellas, is nominated again after winning her second Ballon d'Or in a row and after a great season in which her club won all 30 league games, she was runner-up in the league of Champions and top scorer with 11 goals, although a cruciate ligament injury prevented her from participating in the Euro Cup.
Putellas will face in the final vote the Jamaican athlete Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, winner for the fifth time at the World Championships in Eugene (USA) of gold in the 100-meter dash, and the American Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, world record holder of 400 meters fences; the Polish tennis player Iga Świątek, number one in the world, the American swimmer Katie Ledecky, winner of four gold medals in the World Cups, and her compatriot Mikaela Shiffrin, winner of the Ski World Cup.
The award for the best team of 2022 will come from the candidacies of Real Madrid, champion of the League and winner of the Champions League for the fourteenth time in 2022; the Argentine soccer team, world champion in Qatar 2022; the England women's team, winner of the last European Championship; the French men's rugby team, who won the Six Nations after twelve years; Golden State Warriors (USA), NBA champion for the fourth time in eight years, and the Oracle Red Bull Racing team (Austria), which became the constructors' champion after beating Mercedes after eight years.
Former Portuguese soccer player Luis Figo, a member of the Laureus Academy, highlighted that "it's fabulous that soccer is recognized in two different categories and the fact that Alexia Putellas has been nominated shows the rise of women's soccer, which continues to break barriers and has become the first woman to win the Ballon d'Or twice.
"Real Madrid's nomination for the Laureus World Team of the Year Award is another great achievement. They are still the best they can be, winning their 14th UEFA Champions League last year was incredible, they have managed to reach seventeen finals over the years. over the years and that shows their drive, commitment and sheer footballing talent," he added.
The Spanish tennis player Carlos Alcaraz will aspire to the revelation distinction after winning the US Open and becoming the youngest male world number 1 in history, at 19 years, 4 months and 6 days.
Nigerian athlete Tobi Amusan, world champion and new 100m hurdles world record; American skater Nathan Chen, Olympic gold medalist and world record holder in the short program, Morocco's soccer team, the first African country to reach the World Cup semifinals, Kazakh tennis player Elena Rybakina, winner of Wimbledon, who won her first "Grand Slam" ", and the American golfer Scottie Scheffler, winner of the Augusta Open and second in the US Open.
The American tennis player Monica Seles, a member of the Laureus Academy, highlighted that "Spanish tennis culture has always been very strong, but players like Nadal don't appear that often and now they also have someone like Carlos Alcaraz who at a very young age He has already won his first Grand Slam."
"I had the opportunity to see Alcaraz in person in Indian Wells against Nadal, and I was amazed at his intensity and how focused he was at such a young age, and he has already won his first Grand Slam. He is a great addition to this sport. He's going to inspire more generations to come... and we'll see him win many, many more Grand Slam titles."
The awards will also honor the comeback of the year, with American golfer Tiger Woods and Danish soccer player Christian Eriksen among the contenders. The former returned to play in the Masters 14 months after a serious car accident and the latter returned after suffering a cardiac arrest on the field during a Euro 2020 match with his team.
The six nominees in each category are chosen by a vote of the Media Nomination Panel, made up of 1,400 of the world's leading sports journalists, except in the categories of athlete with a disability and the sport 'for good' award, which are chosen by specialist panels.
The Dutch wheelchair tennis player Diede de Groot and the American skier Oksana Masters are among the candidates for the first and for the second various programs that use physical activity and different sports with objectives such as integration, homelessness education and relief. the stress of refugee children.
