By Gura Garcia
Apr 23, 2024, 08:53 AM EDT
The Laureus Awards were held at a gala held at the Royal House of Correos de Madrid, awards that are known worldwide as the ‘Oscars of sport’.
And the particularity of this type of awards is that they define the members of the Laureus World Sports Academyamong whom are, to mention a few, the former professional soccer players Luis Figo, Ruud Gullit and Alessandro del Piero, the gymnast Nacia Comaneci, the tennis players Boris Becker and Martina Navratilova or the cyclist Miguel Indurain.
🏆 OFFICIAL! Novak Djokovic winner of the Laureus Award for Best Male Athlete of 2024.
He surpassed Mondo Duplantis, Erling Haaland, Noah Lyles, Lionel Messi and Max Verstappen in the vote.
🏅 Fifth time the Serbian has won the award. pic.twitter.com/bGZyJEaZTy
— Samuel Vargas (@SVargasOK) April 22, 2024
Who competed in this edition for the biggest prize?
In this edition, the one who won the award for best male athlete was the tennis player Novak Djokovicwho surpassed the other nominees, the Argentine Lionel Messi who had achieved it last year, Erling Haaland of Manchester City, the athletes Mondo Duplantis and Noah Lyles and the multiple Formula 1 world champion, the Dutch Max Verstappen.
Nole, 36, was chosen because “last year he won titles at the Australian Open, French Open and US Open, to reach an impressive career tally of 24 Grand Slam singles triumphs.”
In this way he managed to win his fifth Laureus award in his career (in the editions of 2012, 2015, 2016, 2019 also won it). Messi, who was defending the statuette, could not travel to Spain due to current commitments with the team where he plays today (he is working on preparation with Inter Miami for Saturday’s duel against New England Revolution in the MLS), he added it to his showcase in 2020 and 2023.
Words of gratitude from the tennis legend
Djokovic thanked all the participants of the event and praised his colleagues Carlos Alcaraz, Rafael Nadal and Navratilova, among others, as well as the support of his team and his family who are vital pieces in his career: “There is a lot to come,” he warned, in a year where he has not competed at the highest possible level , but he is still an excellent player.
At the gala, which was attended by great figures from the world of sports such as the renowned Olympic medalist and owner of several world records in athletics, the Jamaican Usain Bolt, the star player of Real Madrid, Jude Bellinghem who won the “revelation of the year” award, Rodrigo de Paul of Atlético de Madrid, world champion and from America with the Argentine national team.
“In general terms it has been a great season, reaching the semi-finals of the Copa del ReyBy reaching a quarter-final in the Champions League, we qualified for a Club World Cup, and for it to be a great year we have to qualify for the next Champions League,” said the former Racing player in front of the Marca camera.
LIST OF WINNERS OF THE LAUREUS 2024
LAUREUS AWARD FOR WORLD SPORTSMAN OF THE YEAR: Novak Djokovic
LAUREUS AWARD FOR WORLD ATHLETE OF THE YEAR: Aitana Bonmatí
LAUREUS AWARD FOR WORLD TEAM OF THE YEAR: Spanish women’s soccer team
LAUREUS AWARD FOR WORLD NEWSLETTER OF THE YEAR: Jude Bellingham
LAUREUS AWARD FOR BEST WORLD RETURN OF THE YEAR: Simone Biles
LAUREUS AWARD FOR WORLD DISABLED ATHLETE OF THE YEAR: Diede de Groot
LAUREUS AWARD FOR WORLD ACTION SPORTSMAN OF THE YEAR: Arisa Trew
LAUREUS SPORT FOR GOOD AWARD: Rafa Nadal Foundation
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