Max Verstappen, Elaine Thompson, Italy win top honours at Laureus Sports Awards 2022
Formula One world champion Max Verstappen, Jamaican Olympic sprinter Elaine Thompson-Herah and the Italian national team have been named Laureus World Sportsman, Sportswoman and Team of the Year respectively in 2022.
Verstappen won the F1 driver’s title last December with a controversial win at the Abu Dhabi GP. He beat Tom Brady, Novak Djokovic, Caeleb Dressel, Eliud Kipchoge and Robert Lewandowski to win the award.
Thompson-Herah had defended her 100 and 200 metres Olympic titles in Tokyo, and also won a third gold in the 4 x 100m relay. She beat Ashleigh Barty, Allyson Felix, Katie Ledecky, Emma McKeon and Alexia Putellas to win the prestigious award.
Italian men’s football team also won their second Laureus Team of the Year Award as a result of winning the European Championship last year, beating off competition from the Argentine Men’s football team, Barcelona Women’s football team, China’s Olympic diving team, Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 team and the Milwaukee Bucks Basketball Team.
Other big winners included global tennis sensation Emma Raducanu who received the Laureus Breakthrough of the Year Award following her US Open victory at the age of 18.
The Laureus World Sports Academy also made special presentations to three giants of sport: Tom Brady, seven-time winner of the Super Bowl, is honoured with the Laureus Lifetime Achievement Award; Robert Lewandowski receives the Laureus Academy Exceptional Achievement Award for achievements including breaking Gerd Muller’s long-standing goalscoring record in the Bundesliga; and hugely popular motor cycle racer Valentino Rossi is presented with the Laureus Sporting Icon Award, after retiring in November at the end of a 25-year career.
The full list of Winners is:
Laureus World Sportsman of the Year Award: Max Verstappen
Laureus World Sportswoman of the Year Award: Elaine Thompson-Herah
Laureus World Team of the Year Award: Italy men’s football team
Laureus World Breakthrough of the Year Award: Emma Raducanu
Laureus World Comeback of the Year Award: Sky Brown
Laureus World Sportsperson of the Year with a Disability Award: Marcel Hug
Laureus World Action Sportsperson of the Year Award: Bethany Shriever
Laureus Lifetime Achievement Award: Tom Brady
Laureus Academy Exceptional Achievement Award: Robert Lewandowski
Laureus Sporting Icon Award: Valentino Rossi
Laureus Sport for Good Award: Lost Boyz Inc.
Laureus Sport for Good Society Award: Real Madrid Foundation
Laureus Athlete Advocate of the Year Award: Gerald Asamoah and the Black Eagles
