Six Nominations in seven Laureus categories where announced today. Those nominated included US tennis legend Serena Williams, Mick Fanning and Jordan Spieth. The Laureus World Sports Awards Ceremony will take place in Berlin on April 18, 2016.
The 2016 Laureus World Sports Nominees Are:
Laureus World Sportsman of the Year Award:
Usain Bolt (Jamaica) Athletics – Won three sprint gold medals in World Championships in Beijing Stephen Curry (US) Basketball – Led Golden State Warriors to NBA championship, named NBA MVP Novak Djokovic (Serbia) Tennis – World No.1, won three Grand Slams and was finalist in French Open Lewis Hamilton (UK) Motor Racing – Won third career and second straight Formula One world title Lionel Messi (Argentina) Football – Star of the FC Barcelona team, won record fifth Ballon d’Or Jordan Spieth (US) Golf – At 21, won The Masters and the US Open and became world No.1
Laureus World Sportswoman of the Year Award:
Genzebe Dibaba (Ethiopia) Athletics – IAAF Athlete of Year, won 1,500m world title in Beijing
Anna Fenninger (Austria) Skiing – Won two World Championship gold medals and second World Cup Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce (Jamaica) Athletics – Won second straight and third career 100m world title Katie Ledecky (US) Swimming – Won five gold medals at World Championships in Kazan
Carli Lloyd (US) Football – Scored three goals to win Women’s World Cup final, also won Golden Ball Serena Williams (US) Tennis – World No.1, won Australian Open, French Open and Wimbledon
Laureus World Team of the Year Award:
All Blacks (New Zealand) Rugby – Won second straight Rugby World Cup, their third in total
FC Barcelona (Spain) Football – Won fifth Champions League, also won La Liga and Copa del Rey Golden State Warriors (US) Basketball – Beat LeBron James’ Cleveland to win the NBA Finals
Great Britain Davis Cup Team (Tennis) – Led by Andy Murray, won Davis Cup for first time since 1936 Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team (Germany) – Second Constructors’ World Championship US Women’s Football Team – Won Women’s World Cup for third time, beating Japan 5-2 in the final
Laureus World Breakthrough of the Year Award:
Chile Men’s Football Team – Won their first ever Copa America, beating Argentina in the final
Jason Day (Australia) Golf – Won first Major Championship at USPGA, plus four other US Tour events Tyson Fury (UK) Boxing – Beat Wladimir Klitschko to become unified world heavyweight champion Adam Peaty (UK) Swimming – At 20, won three gold medals at World Championships in Kazan Jordan Spieth (US) Golf – At 21, won The Masters and the US Open and became world No.1
Max Verstappen (Netherlands) Motor Racing – Youngest Formula One driver at 17 years 166 days
Laureus World Comeback of the Year Award:
Dan Carter (New Zealand) Rugby – Named World Rugby Player of Year after All Blacks’ World Cup win Jessica Ennis-Hill (UK) Athletics – Won heptathlon world title after injury and a year after giving birth to son Mick Fanning (Australia) Surfing – Returned to the surf six days after a shark attack in South Africa Michael Phelps (US) Swimmer – Won three titles at US Championships after returning to swimming
David Rudisha (Kenya) Athletics – After three years fighting injury, returned to track to win 800m world title Lindsey Vonn (US) Skiing – After missing Olympics, returned to win 7th Downhill and 5th Super G World Cups
Laureus World Sportsperson of the Year with a Disability Award
Marie Bochet (France) Skiing – First to win all five events at back-to-back World Championships
Liu Cuiqing (China) Athletics – Won four women’s T11 titles at her first World Championships
Daniel Dias (Brazil) Swimming – Won seven gold’s and one silver medal at World Championships Omara Durand (Cuba) Athletics – Broke 100m world record to become fastest female Paralympian Pieter Du Pérez (South. Africa) Athletics, Cycling – Won world titles and achieved No.1status in two sports Leung Yuk Wing (China Hong Kong) Boccia – Won medals in all four World Open competitions
Laureus World Action Sportsperson of the Year Award
Rachel Atherton (UK) Mountain Biking – After illness came back to win fourth Overall World Cup
Bob Burnquist (Brazil) Skateboard – Won Big Air and Big Air Doubles to reach 29 X-Games medals Adriano de Souza (Brazil) Surfing – At 28, he won his first World Surfing Championship
Mick Fanning (Australia) Surfing – Despite shark attack in South Africa, finished second on world tour
Jan Frodeno (Germany) Ironman Triathlon – First to win Ironman world title and Olympic triathlon gold Chloe Kim (US) Snowboarding – At 14, became youngest athlete to win a Winter X Games gold medal
For more detailed biographies of Nominees go to http://lwsa16.laureus.com/