Updated date: 05/09/2023 08:02:12
Forward Lionel Messi was named Sportsman of the Year at the Laureus Awards in Paris on Monday. The Laureus World Sports Awards, dubbed the “Oscars of sports ”, are an annual awards show that celebrates the best athletes and teams of the year.
Lionel Messi becomes first athlete to win Laureus individual and team awards in the same year
The 2022 World Cup triumph continued to bring great honors to the individuals and teams that made it happen at the Laureus Awards. Captain Messi was named Sportsman of the Year, while Argentina won the Team of the Year award. Messi also became the first athlete to win both the Laureus individual and team awards in the same year.
This is the second time the 35-year-old PSG superstar has received the honour - after first sharing it with Formula 1 driver Lewis Hamilton in 2020. "I'm looking at the names of the legends who have won this prestigious award before me: Schumacher, Woods, Nadal, Federer, Bolt, Hamilton, Djokovic... and this is a unique honour," Messi said.
In other awards, sprint champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce was named Male Athlete of the Year after a stellar 2022, which included winning 100m gold at the World Athletics Championships. Tennis player Carlos Alcaraz, who won the 2022 US Open and rose to number one in the ATP rankings, was named Breakthrough Athlete of the Year.
Midfielder Christian Eriksen, who recovered from a cardiac arrest at Euro 2022 in 2021 but could return to Premier League football, first with Brentford and then Man.United, before playing at the World Cup with Denmark, was awarded the Comeback of the Year award. The Disability of the Year award went to Catherine Debrunner. The Action of the Year award went to Eileen Gu.
The Laureus World Sports Awards were launched in 2000. The nominees for the award are chosen by the global media, while the 71 members of the Laureus World Sports Academy select the winners in each category. Tennis legend Roger Federer holds the record for being honored five times and is the only person to have won the award four years in a row. Novak Djokovic has been honored four times, followed by Usain Bolt (three times), and Tiger Woods, Michael Schumacher, Rafael Nadal, and Messi (twice each).
According to THANH TUAN (SGGP)
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