Dutch driver Max Verstappen, current Formula 1 world champion, and Jamaican sprinter Elaine Thompson-Herah, Olympic champion in the 100 and 200 meters and in the 4×100 meters relay at the Tokyo Games (Japan), were elected the Men’s and Women’s Sportsmen of the last season in the 2022 edition of the Laureus Awards, considered the Oscar of world sport. The announcement took place this Sunday (24) during a virtual ceremony held in Seville (Spain).
“It means a lot to receive this award, one of the most respected in the world. I’m extremely happy. Ever since I was a kid, I dreamed of being on the top step, winning the championship. told my father [o ex-piloto Jos Verstappen, também holandês]: ‘We achieved!’ That’s what we’ve worked for all these years. Now here we are, the two of us, with all the memories and all the years traveling across Europe, seeking our goal, which has been achieved.”
? The #Laureus22 World Sportsman of the Year Award winner is @Max33Verstappen
Max won his first @F1 Championship in thrilling style in 2021. The @redbullracing driver had ten Grand Prix wins during the year and a record 18 podium finishes ? pic.twitter.com/8QmjeyDcCr
— Laureus (@LaureusSport) April 24, 2022
“I know Usain [Bolt, ex-velocista jamaicano] has won the Laureus Award before, but bringing this trophy back to the Caribbean, again in Jamaica, is very special. I watched that race [de 100 metros] about a thousand times. Even though they are very special, they are memories. I can’t sit back and say, ‘OK, I’m a two-time Olympic champion and a five-time Olympic gold medalist. I have to keep working, because my motivation is to be even better”, highlighted Elaine, also in a statement from the organization of the event.
? #Laureus22 World Sportswoman of the Year, @FastElaine wowed the world at the tokyo @Olympics when she established herself as the fastest sprinter in the world, winning gold in the 100 and 200 meters and the 4x100m relay pic.twitter.com/e3Pbs4R4yS
— Laureus (@LaureusSport) April 24, 2022
The Brazilian surfer Ítalo Ferreira, Olympic champion in Tokyo, was nominated for the Best Action Sportsman award, but the honor was given to the British Bethany Shriever. She won the gold medal in BMX cycling both in Japan and at the World Championships in Arnhem (Netherlands). To compete in the Games, she resorted to crowdfunding to make the qualification campaign viable and raised 50 thousand pounds sterling (R$ 308.7 thousand, at the current price).
? The #Laureus22 World Action Sportsperson of the Year Award winner is @bethanyshriever
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2021 was a history making year for Beth as she became the first woman to win @Olympics and World Championship BMX gold medals in the same year? pic.twitter.com/v6829tE8ob— Laureus (@LaureusSport) April 24, 2022
The Italian men’s football team, European champions in 2021, won Best Team of the Year. Interestingly, the team failed to qualify for this year’s World Cup in Qatar, being eliminated by North Macedonia in the Old Continent’s repechage.
? The 2022 Laureus World Team of the Year is @Azzurri
Led by Roberto Mancini, Italy celebrated a brilliant victory in the European Championships, defeating England on penalties and extending their unbeaten run at the time to 34 matches ?? #Laureus22 pic.twitter.com/Nt1kS9VHmS
— Laureus (@LaureusSport) April 24, 2022
American football star Tom Brady was honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award for winning the Super Bowl for the seventh time. Breaking the goals record of former German player Gerd Müller in the Bundesliga (German Championship) earned Polish striker Robert Lewandowski the Extraordinary Achievement of the year. Italian rider Valentino Rossi received the honor of Sporting Icon last season, retiring from the track after a 25-year career in motorcycle racing.
On the pitch, @lewy_official scored 41 goals in the 2020/21 @Bundesliga_DE season for @FCBayernsurpassing Gerd Muller’s record
Off it, in his role as a @UNICEF ambassador he has visited refugee camps in Syria and made donations to help families on the ground in Ukraine pic.twitter.com/LJJpXcJino
— Laureus (@LaureusSport) April 24, 2022
The Paralympic Sportsman of the year was Swiss Marcel Hug. Specializing in long-distance events, the wheelchair user won four gold medals at the Tokyo Paralympics (800 meters, 1,500 meters – in which he broke the world record -, five thousand meters and the marathon). He also topped the podium at the Berlin (Germany), New York and Boston Marathons (both in the US).
The Laureus 2022 World Sportsperson of the Year with a Disability Award winner is, @MarcelEricHug ?
His outstanding performances in the Tokyo @Paralympics lit up the Games and took his overall medal haul to six gold, four silver and two bronze ✨#Laureus22 | @Laureus_CH pic.twitter.com/vjmHblQn1D
— Laureus (@LaureusSport) April 24, 2022
British tennis player Emma Raducanu, 18, was named Revelation of the season, after winning the US Open, being the first to win one of the four biggest tournaments in the world (the Grand Slams) out of the qualifying stage. Another British recipient was Sky Brown, chosen last year’s Best Return. The 13-year-old skater, who suffered a fractured skull during training in June 2020, won the women’s street (street obstacle style) bronze medal in Tokyo (Brazilian Rayssa Leal was the Olympic runner-up in the test).
? The #Laureus22 World Comeback of the Year Award winner is #SkyBrown
Suffering a skull fracture and broken left hand in 2020, Sky recovered to become Britain’s youngest ever @Olympics medallist when she won bronze in the women’s park skateboard final ? pic.twitter.com/v1aySlqaKH
— Laureus (@LaureusSport) April 24, 2022
Lost Boys Inc., a youth baseball project in the US city of Chicago, won the Sport for Good award. The Real Madrid Foundation, created by the Spanish club of the same name, which trains football and basketball coaches to develop young people through sport, received the Sport for Society honor. Finally, former striker Gerald Asamoah and the black German football players featured in the documentary Schwarze Adler (Black Eagles, in free translation), were remembered in the Athlete Defender of Causes award.
The 2022 Laureus Sport For Good Award recipient, @LostBoyzInc ?
The Lost Boyz Inc program from Chicago uses baseball to inspire and empower young people ⚾️ #Laureus22 | @Laureus_USA pic.twitter.com/8Aw7N14y0c
— Laureus (@LaureusSport) April 24, 2022
The voting is secret and made by a jury composed of 71 members of the Laureus Academy, formed by idols of the world sport who work in the promotion of the entity’s actions. Brazil has three representatives: former pilot Emerson Fittipaldi, former side Cafu and former Paralympic swimmer Daniel Dias (the last of them to join the group).
