Olympic hero Tom Pidcock leads UK nominations for Laureus World Sports Awards

The ceremony – marking the Awards’ 25th anniversary – will take place in in Madrid on April 21 and be a celebration of the greatest athletic achievements of 2024, featuring heroes from the Paris Olympic Games, Grand Slam champions and a host of world record-breakers.

Tom Pidcock won his second straight Olympic gold in Paris after mounting a heroic comeback to defend his cross-country mountain biking title. That feat has earned him a place on the shortlist for the Laureus World Action Sportsperson of the Year Award, while the McLaren Formula One Team’s success in the 2024 Constructors’ World Championship sees them honoured with a nomination for the Laureus World Team of the Year Award. Street League completes the collection of UK Nominees, with the programme one of six inspirational organisations shortlisted for the Laureus Sport for Good Award.

It will be up to the 69 sporting icons of the Laureus World Sports Academy to cast their votes and determine who will add their names to the exclusive list of those to receive a coveted Laureus Statuette.

Tom Pidcock could not have envisaged taking his place at the top of the Olympic podium when he suffered a puncture in the early stages of the Olympic cross-country mountain biking race. At that point, the UK rider was in ninth place and 39 seconds behind home favourite Victor Koretzky. Remarkably, the 25-year-old fought back to get within touching distance of the Frenchman before pulling off a daring overtake in trees on the final lap to claim his second straight Olympic gold. Athletes nominated alongside Pidcock on the shortlist for the Laureus Action Sportsperson of the Year Award include two gold-medal winning skateboarders – Yuto Horigome and last year’s Award winner Arisa Trew, snowboarder Chloe Kim, surfer Caroline Marks and Polish speed climber Aleksandra Miroslaw.

Tom Pidcock said: “The race in Paris will stay with me forever and likewise this nomination for the Laureus World Action Sportsperson of the Year is a special moment – especially as these wonderful Awards celebrate their 25th anniversary. I said after the race that I just didn’t want to give up and I think that spirit can be seen across this list of Nominees. They are all risk-takers, athletes who give everything in their sport, and I’m proud to stand beside them.”

McLaren Formula One Team stand alone as the sole Nominee for the Laureus World Team of the Year Award not to hail from either Spain or the USA, but they more than merit their place after ending a 26-year wait to win the 2024 Constructors’ World Championship. Also shortlisted in the category are Real Madrid, Spain Men’s Football Team, FC Barcelona Women’s Team, USA Basketball Men's National Team and Boston Celtics.

McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown, said: “2024 was a fantastic year for the entire team. We achieved so much on and off track, with six grands prix wins, 21 podiums and two Sprint wins, leading us to achieve the 2024 Formula 1 Constructors’ Championship title. Our first team title since 1998 could not have been achieved without Lando, Oscar and the whole team in Woking working continually in the pursuit of getting us back to the front of the grid. It’s an honour to be nominated for such a prestigious award and to be recognised for the incredible work of all the men and women at the McLaren Formula 1 Team.”

Street League – shortlisted for the Laureus Sport for Good Award – utilises sport to help young people in the UK gain employment. They work in collaboration with schools and employers to equip their members with the confidence and skills to succeed in the world of work. By combining academic work with sporting activities, Street League have helped thousands of young people secure a job, an apprenticeship, or a place on an educational/vocational training programme. Others on the shortlist include Kick4life, a charity using football to reach at-risk children in Lesotho; and Kind Surf, a programme helping young people in Valencia and Zaurutz, Spain, at risk of social exclusion due to intellectual disabilities.

The list of contenders for the Laureus World Sportsman of the Year Award is a who’s who of sporting royalty, including France’s Olympic hero Léon Marchand, tennis star Carlos Alcaraz, pole vaulting legend Mondo Duplantis, all-conquering Formula One champion Max Verstappen, and Tour de France winner Tadej Pogačar.

The shortlist for the Laureus World Sportswoman of the Year Award contains some of the greatest athletes not only of the past 12 months, but of all-time. Four-time Laureus Award winner Simone Biles’ magical displays in Paris ensured she became the most decorated gymnast in history, while last year’s winner, Aitana Bonmatí, is one of the names in contention once again after winning the Ballon d’Or and treble with Barcelona. Sprinter Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone is also shortlisted after winning two golds in Paris.

In 2024, San Antonio Spurs centre Victor Wembanyama was unanimously named the league’s Rookie of the Year and was also the first rookie ever to be selected in the All-Defensive First Team. His groundbreaking season was rounded off with a silver medal as part of the French national team at the 2024 Olympic Games, and he is nominated for this year’s Laureus World Breakthrough of the Year Award. So, too, is Julien Alfred, who won a first-ever Olympic gold for the Caribbean Island of St Lucia, and fellow history-maker Letsile Tebogo, who delivered a maiden gold for Botswana. They are joined on the shortlist by teenage swimming starlet Summer McIntosh, and the star of Spain’s swashbuckling Euro 2024 squad, Lamine Yamal.

The Laureus World Sportsperson of the Year with a Disability Award is made up of athletes whose performances lit up the Paris Paralympic Games. Swimming duo Teresa Perales and Jian Yuhan are among those nominated, as is America Matt Stutzman, who made history in the French capital after becoming the first armless para-archer to win a gold medal. He is joined by wheelchair tennis champion Tokito Oda and Catherine Debrunner, who won five golds as well as the Berlin and London Marathons.

An innate ability to overcome extreme adversity is the common thread running between our athletes nominated for the Laureus World Comeback of the Year Award. Gymnast Rebeca Andrade successfully battled through a tortuous struggle with anterior cruciate ligament injures to win gold in Paris. Ski racer Lara Gut-Behrami and swimmer Ariarne Titmus, who defended her Olympic 400m freestyle title shortly after underdoing surgery to remove a tumour on her ovary, are also nominated.

The full list of Nominees is:

LAUREUS WORLD SPORTSMAN OF THE YEAR AWARD

Carlos Alcaraz (Spain) Tennis - Won the French Open, Wimbledon and the Olympic silver medal

Mondo Duplantis (Sweden) Athletics - retained Olympic pole vault title; at the point of nomination had broken the world record 10 times, since making it 11 times.

Léon Marchand (France) Swimming - won four individual gold medals at the Paris Olympics

Tadej Pogačar (Slovenia) Cycling - 25 wins, including Tour de France, Giro d’Italia and World Championship

Max Verstappen (Netherlands) Motor Racing - won a fourth successive Formula One World Championship

LAUREUS WORLD SPORTSWOMAN OF THE YEAR AWARD

Simone Biles (USA) Gymnastics - impressive return to Olympic stage with three golds and a silver in Paris

Aitana Bonmatí (Spain) Football - second straight Ballon d’Or Feminin as Barcelona won Champions League, Liga F and Copa de la Reina

Sifan Hassan (Netherlands) Athletics - bronze in 5,000m and 10,000m plus marathon gold in Paris

Faith Kipyegon (Kenya) Athletics - became the only three-time Olympic champion in 1,500 metres in Paris

Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone (USA) Athletics - Olympic golds in 400m hurdles and 4 x 400m relay

Aryna Sabalenka Tennis - won Australian and US Opens; became World No.1 in singles and doubles

LAUREUS WORLD TEAM OF THE YEAR AWARD

FC Barcelona Women’s Team (Spain) Football - won Champions League, Liga F and the Copa de la Reina

Boston Celtics (USA) Basketball - claimed a record 18th NBA title, one more than their old rivals LA Lakers

McLaren Formula One Team (UK) Formula One - secured their first World Constructors’ Championship since 1998

Real Madrid (Spain) Football - won 15th Champions League/European Cup, La Liga and Supercopa de España

Spain Men’s Football Team - became most successful team in European Championship history with fourth win

USA Basketball Men's National Team - claimed USA’s fifth straight Olympic gold to emulate the famous Dream Team

LAUREUS WORLD BREAKTHROUGH OF THE YEAR AWARD

Julien Alfred (St Lucia) Athletics - won 100m in debut Olympics to take home St Lucia’s first-ever Olympic gold

Bayer 04 Leverkusen (Germany) Football - Bundesliga champions for first time in their 120-year history after unbeaten season

Summer McIntosh (Canada) Swimming - won three individual golds and a silver in Paris

Letsile Tebogo (Botswana) Athletics - won 200m gold medal, Botswana’s first-ever Olympic gold medal

Victor Wembanyama (France) Basketball - San Antonio Spurs centre won the NBA Rookie of the Year

Lamine Yamal (Spain) Football - named Best Young Player as Spain won the European Championships

LAUREUS WORLD COMEBACK OF THE YEAR AWARD

Rebeca Andrade (Brazil) Gymnastics - battling back from injury, she won Olympic gold, two silvers and bronze

Caeleb Dressel (USA) Swimming - overcame mental health issues to win two relay golds and a silver in Paris

Lara Gut-Behrami (Switzerland) Alpine Skiing - won overall World Cup title for first time since 2015/16 season

Marc Márquez (Spain) Motor Cycling - returned from serious injury to win three Grand Prix in 2024

Rishabh Pant (India) Cricket - 629 days after a life-threatening car crash, returned to play for India Test team Ariarne Titmus (Australia) Swimming - defended her Olympic 400m freestyle title less than year after being diagnosed with a tumour

LAUREUS WORLD ACTION SPORTSPERSON OF THE YEAR AWARD

Yuto Horigome (Japan) Skateboarding - landed best trick of street competition to secure back-to-back Olympic golds

Chloe Kim (USA) Snowboarding - won her seventh X-Games superpipe gold medal

Caroline Marks (USA) Surfing - 22-year-old won the Olympic surfing gold in Tahiti

Aleksandra Miroslaw (Poland) Speed Climbing - set two world records on her way to Paris gold

Tom Pidcock (UK) Mountain Biking - won back-to-back Olympic titles in the cyclo-cross discipline

Arisa Trew (Australia) Skateboarding - became Australia’s youngest-ever Olympic champion, aged 14

LAUREUS WORLD SPORTSPERSON OF THE YEAR WITH A DISABILITY AWARD

Catherine Debrunner (Switzerland) Athletics - won five gold medals and a silver at the Paris Paralympics

Teresa Perales (Spain) Swimming - won bronze in Paris, to take her Paralympic medal haul to 28

Tokito Oda (Japan) Wheelchair Tennis - came from match point down to become youngest-ever Paralympic singles winner

Matt Stutzman (USA) Archery - became first-ever armless para-archery champion to win Olympic gold

Jiang Yuyan (China) Swimming - most-decorated athlete at Paralympics, she won seven golds from seven events

Qu Zimo (China) Wheelchair Badminton - won three golds at World Championship, then two more in Paris

LAUREUS SPORT FOR GOOD AWARD 

Programmes nominated by a specialist selection panel; Laureus Academy select the winner 

Kick4life (Lesotho) Football x Gender Equity - uses football to reach at-risk children and young people

Figure Skating in Harlem (USA) Figure Skating x Racial Equity - help girls transform their lives through figure skating

Kind Surf (Spain) Surfing x Inclusion - uses surf therapy to support young people at risk of social exclusion due to intellectual disabilities

Liberi Nantes (Italy) Football x Social Inclusion – offers wide range of sporting activities for refugees and political asylum seekers

Paris Basket 18 (France) Basketball x Gender Equity - focuses on development of women’s sport, and promotes social integration

Street League (UK) Multi-sport x Employability - uses the power of sport to help young people aged 14-30 prepare for employment and training opportunities