Laureus World Sports Award for Sportsman of the Year
The Laureus World Sports Award for Sportsman of the Year is an annual award honouring the achievements of individual men from the world of sports. It was first awarded in 2000 as one of the seven constituent awards presented during the Laureus World Sports Awards. The awards are presented by the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation, a global organisation involved in more than 150 charity projects supporting 500,000 young people. The first ceremony was held on 25 May 2000 in Monte Carlo, at which Nelson Mandela gave the keynote speech., a shortlist of six nominees for the award comes from a panel composed of the "world's leading sports editors, writers and broadcasters". The Laureus World Sports Academy then selects the winner who is presented with a Laureus statuette, created by Cartier, at the annual awards ceremony held in various locations around the world. The awards are considered highly prestigious and are frequently referred to as the sporting equivalent of "Oscars".
The inaugural winner of the award was the American golfer Tiger Woods who finished the 1999 season with eight wins, a feat not achieved since 1974, including the PGA Championship. He went on to become the most dominant player of his era, earning a second Laureus Award the following year, and five further nominations between 2002 and 2008. The 2003 winner of the Laureus World Sports Award for Sportsman of the Year was the American road cyclist Lance Armstrong. He had been nominated the previous year, and earned further nominations in 2004, 2005 and 2006. Following Armstrong's 2013 admission of doping, all his Laureus awards and nominations were rescinded. Tennis players dominate the winners list, with ten awards, while athletes and Formula One drivers have won four times, and golfers twice. Excluding Armstrong, the Laureus World Sports Award for Sportsman of the Year has been won by just nine individuals since its inception. Roger Federer holds the record for the most awards with five. The 2020 award was won by Lewis Hamilton and Lionel Messi, the first time the award has been jointly held and also the first time ever that the award was won by a team sport athlete, footballer Lionel Messi.
List of winners and nominees
| Year | Image | Winner | Nationality | Sport | Nominees | Refs |
| 2000 | Golf | Andre Agassi – tennis Maurice Greene – athletics | ||||
| 2001 | Golf | Steve Redgrave – rowing Michael Schumacher – Formula One Ian Thorpe – swimming Pieter van den Hoogenband – swimming | ||||
| 2002 | Formula One | Lance Armstrong* – cycling Maurice Greene – athletics Ian Thorpe – swimming Tiger Woods – golf | ||||
| 2003 | * | Cycling | Ole Einar Bjørndalen – biathlon Ronaldo – football Michael Schumacher – Formula One Tiger Woods – golf | |||
| 2004 | Formula One | Lance Armstrong* – cycling Roger Federer – tennis Michael Phelps – swimming Valentino Rossi – MotoGP Jonny Wilkinson – rugby union | ||||
| 2005 | Tennis | Lance Armstrong* – cycling Hicham El Guerrouj – athletics Michael Phelps – swimming Valentino Rossi – MotoGP Michael Schumacher – Formula One | ||||
| 2006 | Tennis | Fernando Alonso – Formula One Lance Armstrong* – cycling Ronaldinho – football Valentino Rossi – MotoGP Tiger Woods – golf | ||||
| 2007 | Tennis | Fernando Alonso – Formula One Fabio Cannavaro – football Asafa Powell – athletics Michael Schumacher – Formula One Tiger Woods – golf | ||||
| 2008 | Tennis | Tyson Gay – athletics Kaká – football Michael Phelps – swimming Kimi Räikkönen – Formula One Tiger Woods – golf | ||||
| 2009 | Athletics | Lewis Hamilton – Formula One Rafael Nadal – tennis Michael Phelps – swimming Cristiano Ronaldo – football Valentino Rossi – MotoGP | ||||
| 2010 | Athletics | Kenenisa Bekele – athletics Alberto Contador – cycling Roger Federer – tennis Lionel Messi – football Valentino Rossi – MotoGP | ||||
| 2011 | Tennis | Kobe Bryant – basketball Andrés Iniesta – football Lionel Messi – football Manny Pacquiao – boxing Sebastian Vettel – Formula One | ||||
| 2012 | Tennis | Usain Bolt – athletics Cadel Evans – cycling Lionel Messi – football Dirk Nowitzki – basketball Sebastian Vettel – Formula One | ||||
| 2013 | Athletics | Mo Farah – athletics Lionel Messi – football Michael Phelps – swimming Sebastian Vettel – Formula One Bradley Wiggins – cycling | ||||
| 2014 | Formula One | Usain Bolt – athletics Mo Farah – athletics LeBron James – basketball Rafael Nadal – tennis Cristiano Ronaldo – football | ||||
| 2015 | Tennis | Lewis Hamilton – Formula One Renaud Lavillenie – athletics Marc Márquez – MotoGP Rory McIlroy – golf Cristiano Ronaldo – football | ||||
| 2016 | Tennis | Usain Bolt – athletics Stephen Curry – basketball Lewis Hamilton – Formula One Lionel Messi – football Jordan Spieth – golf | ||||
| 2017 | Athletics | Stephen Curry – basketball Mo Farah – athletics LeBron James – basketball Andy Murray – tennis Cristiano Ronaldo – football | ||||
| 2018 | Tennis | Mo Farah – athletics Chris Froome – cycling Lewis Hamilton – Formula One Rafael Nadal – tennis Cristiano Ronaldo – football | ||||
| 2019 | Tennis | Lewis Hamilton – Formula One LeBron James – basketball Eliud Kipchoge – athletics Kylian Mbappé – football Luka Modrić – football | ||||
| 2020 | Lewis Hamilton | Formula One | Eliud Kipchoge – athletics Marc Márquez – MotoGP Rafael Nadal – tennis Tiger Woods – golf | |||
| 2020 | Lionel Messi | Football | Eliud Kipchoge – athletics Marc Márquez – MotoGP Rafael Nadal – tennis Tiger Woods – golf |
Statistics
| * | Indicated totals exclude those of individuals whose award and/or nomination were later rescinded. |
| Number | Athlete | Years |
| 5 | Roger Federer | 2005–2008, 2018 |
| 4 | Usain Bolt | 2009–2010, 2013, 2017 |
| 4 | Novak Djokovic | 2012, 2015–2016, 2019 |
| 2 | Tiger Woods | 2000–2001 |
| 2 | Michael Schumacher | 2002, 2004 |
| Number | Athlete | Years |
| 8 | Tiger Woods | 2000–2003, 2006–2008, 2020 |
| 7 | Roger Federer | 2004–2008, 2010, 2018 |
| 7 | Usain Bolt | 2009–2010, 2012–2014, 2016–2017 |
| 6 | Michael Schumacher | 2001–2005, 2007 |
| 6 | Lionel Messi | 2010–2013, 2016, 2020 |
| 6 | Lewis Hamilton | 2009, 2015–2016, 2018–2020 |
| 5 | Valentino Rossi | 2004–2006, 2009–2010 |
| 5 | Michael Phelps | 2004–2005, 2008–2009, 2013 |
| 5 | Cristiano Ronaldo | 2009, 2014–2015, 2017–2018 |
| 5 | Rafael Nadal | 2009, 2011, 2014, 2018, 2020 |
| 4 | Sebastian Vettel | 2011–2014 |
| 4 | Mo Farah | 2013–2014, 2017–2018 |
| 4 | Novak Djokovic | 2012, 2015–2016, 2019 |
| 3 | LeBron James | 2014, 2017, 2019 |
| 2 | Maurice Greene | 2000, 2002 |
| 2 | Ian Thorpe | 2001–2002 |
| 2 | Fernando Alonso | 2006–2007 |
| 2 | Stephen Curry | 2016–2017 |
| 2 | Marc Márquez | 2015, 2020 |
| 2 | Eliud Kipchoge | 2019–2020 |
| Country | Winners | Nominations |
| 5 | 2 | |
| 4 | 4 | |
| 4 | 0 | |
| 3 | 8 | |
| 2* | 22* | |
| 1 | 14 | |
| 1 | 10 | |
| 1 | 5 | |
| 0 | 6 | |
| 0 | 5 | |
| 0 | 3 | |
| 0 | 3 | |
| 0 | 2 | |
| 0 | 1 | |
| 0 | 1 | |
| 0 | 1 | |
| 0 | 1 | |
| 0 | 1 | |
| 0 | 1 | |
| 0 | 1 |
| Sport | Winners | Nominations |
| Tennis | 10 | 8 |
| Athletics | 4 | 16 |
| Formula One | 4 | 15 |
| Golf | 2 | 8 |
| Football | 1 | 17 |
| Swimming | 0 | 8 |
| MotoGP | 0 | 7 |
| Basketball | 0 | 7 |
| Cycling | 0* | 4* |
| Biathlon | 0 | 1 |
| Boxing | 0 | 1 |
| Rowing | 0 | 1 |
| Rugby union | 0 | 1 |