Six Nominations in seven Laureus categories announced today
US tennis legend Serena Williams nominated for record tenth time
Mick Fanning and Jordan Spieth shortlisted for two Awards
Laureus World Sports Awards Ceremony in Berlin on April 18
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BERLIN, March 2, 2016 - A glittering collection of the world’s greatest sports stars have been nominated
for the 2016 Laureus World Sports Awards, following a ballot by the world’s media.
The contest for the Laureus World Sportsman of the Year Award promises to be the hottest ever. Nominees
include three-time Laureus winner Usain Bolt, tennis No.1 Novak Djokovic, triple Formula One world
champion Lewis Hamilton and five-time Ballon d’Or winner Lionel Messi. They are joined by first time
Nominees Stephen Curry, star of NBA’s Golden State Warriors, and golf’s world No.1 Jordan Spieth.
After a sparkling 2015 in which she won three Grand Slams, US tennis legend Serena Williams is again
nominated for the Laureus World Sportswoman of the Year Award – her record tenth Laureus Nomination.
In another strong category, the Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team is nominated for the second
straight year for the Laureus World Team of the Year Award, along with Rugby World Cup winners the All
Blacks, Champions League winners FC Barcelona, NBA champions Golden State Warriors, the Great
Britain Davis Cup Team and the US Women’s Football Team, who won their third World Cup.
Two sportsmen are nominated in two categories: surfer Mick Fanning (Action and Comeback) and golfer
Jordan Spieth (Sportsman and Breakthrough).
In addition to Fanning, the Laureus World Comeback of the Year category features some of the biggest
names in sport - Rugby Player of the Year Dan Carter, world heptathlon champion Jessica Ennis-Hill, the
most decorated Olympian Michael Phelps, Kenya’s 800 metres world champion David Rudisha and US
ski legend Lindsey Vonn.
Nominations for the Laureus World Sportsperson of the Year with a Disability include two former winners:
Brazilian swimmer Daniel Dias, who won in 2009 and 2013, and France’s Marie Bochet, winner in 2014,
who had her second clean sweep of all five events at the Paralympic World Skiing Championships.
The names of the Nominees, six in each of seven categories, were announced today. The eventual winners
will be revealed at the Laureus Awards Ceremony in Berlin on April 18. The full list of Nominees is:
Laureus World Sportsman of the Year Award
Usain Bolt (Jamaica) Athletics – Won three sprint gold medals in World Championships in Beijing
Stephen Curry (US) Basketball – Led Golden State Warriors to NBA championship, named NBA MVP
Novak Djokovic (Serbia) Tennis – World No.1, won three Grand Slams and was finalist in French Open
Lewis Hamilton (UK) Motor Racing – Won third career and second straight Formula One world title
Lionel Messi (Argentina) Football – Star of the FC Barcelona team, won record fifth Ballon d’Or
Jordan Spieth (US) Golf – At 21, won The Masters and the US Open and became world No.1
Laureus World Sportswoman of the Year Award
Genzebe Dibaba (Ethiopia) Athletics – IAAF Athlete of Year, won 1,500m world title in Beijing
Anna Fenninger (Austria) Skiing – Won two World Championship gold medals and second World Cup
Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce (Jamaica) Athletics – Won second straight and third career 100m world title
Katie Ledecky (US) Swimming – Won five gold medals at World Championships in Kazan
Carli Lloyd (US) Football – Scored three goals to win Women’s World Cup final, also won Golden Ball
Serena Williams (US) Tennis – World No.1, won Australian Open, French Open and Wimbledon
Laureus World Team of the Year Award
All Blacks (New Zealand) Rugby – Won second straight Rugby World Cup, their third in total
FC Barcelona (Spain) Football – Won fifth Champions League, also won La Liga and Copa del Rey
Golden State Warriors (US) Basketball – Beat LeBron James’ Cleveland to win the NBA Finals
Great Britain Davis Cup Team (Tennis) – Led by Andy Murray, won Davis Cup for first time since 1936
Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team (Germany) – Second Constructors’ World Championship
US Women’s Football Team – Won Women’s World Cup for third time, beating Japan 5-2 in the final
Laureus World Breakthrough of the Year Award
Chile Men’s Football Team - Won their first ever Copa America, beating Argentina in the final
Jason Day (Australia) Golf – Won first Major Championship at USPGA, plus four other US Tour events
Tyson Fury (UK) Boxing - Beat Wladimir Klitschko to become unified world heavyweight champion
Adam Peaty (UK) Swimming – At 20, won three gold medals at World Championships in Kazan
Jordan Spieth (US) Golf – At 21, won The Masters and the US Open and became world No.1
Max Verstappen (Netherlands) Motor Racing – Youngest Formula One driver at 17 years 166 days
Laureus World Comeback of the Year Award
Dan Carter (New Zealand) Rugby - Named World Rugby Player of Year after All Blacks’ World Cup win
Jessica Ennis-Hill (UK) Athletics – Won heptathlon world title after injury and a year after giving birth to son
Mick Fanning (Australia) Surfing – Returned to the surf six days after a shark attack in South Africa
Michael Phelps (US) Swimmer – Won three titles at US Championships after returning to swimming
David Rudisha (Kenya) Athletics – After three years fighting injury, returned to track to win 800m world title
Lindsey Vonn (US) Skiing - After missing Olympics, returned to win 7th Downhill and 5th Super G World Cups
Laureus World Sportsperson of the Year with a Disability Award
Marie Bochet (France) Skiing – First to win all five events at back-to-back World Championships
Liu Cuiqing (China) Athletics - Won four women's T11 titles at her first World Championships
Daniel Dias (Brazil) Swimming – Won seven golds and one silver medal at World Championships
Omara Durand (Cuba) Athletics – Broke 100m world record to become fastest female Paralympian
Pieter Du Preez (S.Africa) Athletics, Cycling – Won world titles and achieved No.1status in two sports
Leung Yuk Wing (China Hong Kong) Boccia – Won medals in all four World Open competitions
Laureus World Action Sportsperson of the Year Award
Rachel Atherton (UK) Mountain Biking – After illness came back to win fourth Overall World Cup
Bob Burnquist (Brazil) Skateboard – Won Big Air and Big Air Doubles to reach 29 X-Games medals
Adriano de Souza (Brazil) Surfing - At 28, he won his first World Surfing Championship
Mick Fanning (Australia) Surfing – Despite shark attack in S.Africa, finished second on world tour
Jan Frodeno (Germany) Ironman Triathlon – First to win Ironman world title and Olympic triathlon gold
Chloe Kim (US) Snowboarding - At 14, became youngest athlete to win a Winter X Games gold medal
For more detailed biographies of Nominees go to http://lwsa16.laureus.com/
The 17th Laureus World Sports Awards, which recognises sporting achievement during the calendar year
2015, is the premier honours event on the international sporting calendar. This is the first time the Laureus
World Sports Awards have been staged in Germany. The winners, as voted by the Laureus World Sports
Academy, the ultimate sports jury, made up of 55 of the greatest sportsmen and sportswomen of all time,
will be unveiled at a globally televised Awards Ceremony staged in the Messe Berlin Palais am Funkturm
on the evening of Monday, April 18.
While celebrating the greatest sporting successes of the year, the Awards Ceremony also showcases the
work of the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation, which has supported more than 150 sports-based
community projects around the world and helped to improve the lives of millions of young people.
Click here for more news about the Laureus World Sports Awards 2016
For further information please contact:
Virginie Bernon, Senior International Media & PR Manager
Tel: +44 (0) 207 514 2841 or Mobile: +44 (0) 79 1953 4894
E mail: Virginie.Bernon@laureus.com
Website: http://lwsa16.laureus.com/
Twitter: @LaureusSport - Facebook: www.facebook.com/LaureusSportforGood Instagram:
http://instagram.com/laureussport
NOTES TO EDITORS
Laureus is a universal movement that celebrates the power of sport to bring people together as a force for
good. Laureus is composed of three core elements - the Laureus World Sports Academy, Laureus Sport for
Good and the Laureus World Sports Awards - which collectively celebrate sporting excellence and use sport
as the means to promote social change.
The first Patron of Laureus was Nelson Mandela. At the inaugural Laureus World Sports Awards in 2000, he
said: “Sport has the power to change the world. It has the power to inspire. It has the power to unite people in
a way that little else does. Sport can create hope where once there was only despair.” This has become the
philosophy of Laureus; the driving force behind its work.
The members of the Laureus World Sports Academy are: Giacomo Agostini, Marcus Allen, Franz
Beckenbauer, Boris Becker, Ian Botham, Sergey Bubka, Cafu, Bobby Charlton, Sebastian Coe, Nadia
Comaneci, Yaping Deng, Marcel Desailly, Kapil Dev, Mick Doohan, David Douillet, Rahul Dravid, Luis Figo,
Emerson Fittipaldi, Sean Fitzpatrick, Dawn Fraser, Cathy Freeman, Tanni Grey-Thompson, Marvelous Marvin
Hagler, Mika Häkkinen, Tony Hawk, Mike Horn, Miguel Indurain, Michael Johnson, Kip Keino, Franz Klammer,
Tegla Loroupe, Dan Marino, Yao Ming, Edwin Moses (Chairman), Nawal El Moutawakel, Robby Naish, Ilie
Nastase, Martina Navratilova, Alexey Nemov, Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player, Morné du Plessis, Hugo Porta,
Carles Puyol, Steve Redgrave, Vivian Richards, Monica Seles, Mark Spitz, Sachin Tendulkar, Daley
Thompson, Alberto Tomba, Steve Waugh, Katarina Witt, Li Xiaopeng and Yang Yang.
The Laureus Academy Members volunteer their services as global ambassadors for Laureus Sport for Good,
which was set up to promote the use of sport as a tool for social change. Laureus Sport for Good addresses
social challenges through a worldwide programme of sports related community development initiatives. Since
its inception, Laureus has raised over €85 million for projects which have helped to improve the lives of
millions of young people. The mission of Laureus Sport for Good is to use sport as a means to combat some
of the toughest social challenges facing young people today such as violence and crime, discrimination,
unemployment, lack of education and health threats including HIV/AIDS and obesity.
The Laureus World Sports Awards is the premier global sports awards honouring the greatest sportsmen and
women across all sports each year. The winners are selected by the ultimate sports jury - the 55 members of
the Laureus World Sports Academy, the living legends of sport honouring the great athletes of today. The
Awards are presented at an annual Awards Ceremony, attended by global figures from sport and
entertainment, which is broadcast to 180 countries and territories.
There is a two-part voting process to find the winners of the Laureus World Sports Awards. Firstly, a Global
Selection Panel of the world’s leading sports editors, print and online writers and broadcasters from over 100
countries are invited to vote to create a shortlist of six Nominations in six categories – Laureus World
Sportsman of the Year, Laureus World Sportswoman of the Year, Laureus World Team of the Year, Laureus
World Breakthrough of the Year, Laureus World Comeback of the Year and Laureus Action Sportsperson of
the Year. Nominations for the Laureus World Sportsperson of the Year with a Disability come from a specialist
panel. The members of the Laureus World Sports Academy then vote by secret ballot to select the Award
winners from these shortlists. The Academy Members may also present additional Awards at their discretion.
The voting process is monitored by independent auditors PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP.
The Awards continue to support Laureus Sport for Good by showcasing the incredible work it does with
athletes and partners to transform the lives of individuals and promoting to a global audience the power of
sport as a development tool to combat challenging social issues.
Laureus was founded by its Patrons Richemont and Daimler and is supported by its Global Partners
Mercedes-Benz and IWC Schaffhausen.
Mercedes-Benz is the inventor of the automobile – and has been passionately shaping its future since 1886.
As pioneers in automotive engineering, it is both our inspiration and responsibility to continue the tradition of
the brand with trailblazing technologies and high-quality products. Like no other trademark in the automotive
world, Mercedes-Benz appeals to both the hearts and minds of its customers. We give our very best for
customers who expect the very best. Since the founding fathers Gottlieb Daimler and Carl Benz, our
corporate history has been one of innovation and pioneering achievements. Many technical innovations that
are nowadays standard in automobiles first entered the market in a Mercedes-Benz. This is the basis for our
claim to leadership in automotive engineering. The brand stands for Modern Luxury, and enjoys an
outstanding reputation for quality, safety, comfort, design and comprehensive, sustainable mobility.
With a clear focus on technology and development, the Swiss watch manufacturer IWC Schaffhausen has
been producing timepieces of lasting value since 1868. The company has gained an international reputation
based on a passion for innovative solutions and technical ingenuity. One of the world’s leading brands in the
luxury watch segment, IWC crafts masterpieces of haute horlogerie at their finest, combining supreme
precision with exclusive design. As an ecologically and socially responsible company, IWC is committed to
sustainable production, supports institutions around the globe in their work with children and young people and
maintains partnerships with organisations dedicated to climate and environmental protection.
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