Novak Djokovic became sportsman of the year at the prestigious “Laureus” ceremony. The awards are popularly known as the ‘Oscars of sports’.
The world No. 1 wins the prize for the fifth time in his career after sending off a phenomenal season in 2023 with three Grand Slam titles: Australian Open, Roland Garros and US Open. In addition, the Serbian also triumphed at the ATP Finals.
The holder of 24 “major” titles has already received the “Laureus” in 2012, 2015, 2016 and 2019. At the ceremony in Madrid he was now accompanied by his wife Jelena.
“It’s an incredible honor to win Athlete of the Year for the fifth time. Memories take me back to 2012 when I was 24 and won it for the first time. I am very proud 12 years later, going back to a season that brought me a lot of success,” said Djokovic.
“It was incredible to come back to Australia last year and win a tenth title. It’s a tournament I’m very fond of and has set the tone for an incredible 12 months. I couldn’t have achieved this much without the amazing team behind me and my inspiring opponents who always pushed me to give my best.”
Also nominated in Djokovic’s category were Argentine football player Lionel Messi and Formula 1 world champion Max Verstappen from the Netherlands. The Olympic shepherd’s jump champion Armand Duplantis, the world champion of 100 and 200 meters Noah Lyles and the Norwegian striker of Manchester City Erling Holland were also in contention for the award.
In the women’s category, the Sportsman of the Year award went to Barcelona’s Aitana Bonmati. There was also a nomination there for the world No. 1 in tennis Iga Schwiontek, as well as the star of alpine skiing Mikaela Shiffrin (USA), athletes Sherika Jackson, Faith Kipiegon and Sha’Kari Richardson, respectively from Jamaica, Kenya and the USA.
The “Breakthrough of the Year” award went to “Real” (Madrid) star Jude Bellingham. He received the statuette from Carlos Alcaraz. And in the same category, Coco Goff was also nominated.
Rafael Nadal was also on stage to receive a statuette. It was handed to him by the football legend Raul, who for many years defended the colors of “Real” (Madrid) – Matadora’s favorite team.
The Spaniard received the “Sport for Good” prize for the activities of his foundation.
The other honorees:
Team of the Year: The women’s national football team of Spain
Return of the year: Simone Biles (in the same category was Marketa Vondrousova)
Disadvantaged Athlete of the Year: Didier de Groot
Nominees for the Laureus Awards are selected by the global media, and winners are determined by the 71 members of the Laureus World Sports Academy. The awards have been presented annually since 1999.
The most decorated athletes with the prize are now Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic with five triumphs each.
