Novak Djokovic, sportsman of the year
The prestigious ceremony took place in Madrid Laureus Award. Last season’s Sportsman of the Year award was won by Novak Djokovic, thanks to an extraordinary 2023 in which he won 3 Grand Slam titles (and only lost in the final at Wimbledon), as well as the final of the ATP Finals in Turin. A stellar year, which led him to prevail in the most prestigious award ahead of other great champions such as F1 driver Max Verstappen, footballers Haaland and Messi, pole vault record holder Armand Duplantis and Noah Lyles, the fastest athlete in the world.
This is the fifth Laureus Award for the Serbian champion after those of 2012, 2015, 2016 and 2019. The award was presented to him by American football legend Ton Brady, another extremely long-lived sportsman like Novak.
Carlos Alcaraz presented the “Breakthrough of the Year” award to Jude Bellingham, young star of Real Madrid football team, while Rafael Nadal, in the company of his wife Xisca, received the “Laureus Sport for Good Award” for the initiatives of the its foundation.
This is the video of Djokovic’s arrival at the wonderful Palacio de Cibeles in the Spanish capital, where the ceremony was held.
Another award went to tennis: Diede de Groot was awarded the “Laureus World Sportsperson of the Year with a Disability” for her outstanding victories in wheelchair tennis. Also present at the evening was Garbine Muguruza, former Iberian tennis star (she has just announced her definitive retirement after a sabbatical).
The full list of winners:
Laureus World Sportsman of the Year Award: Novak Djokovic
Laureus World Sportswoman of the Year Award: Aitana Bonmatí
Laureus World Team of the Year Award: Spanish women’s national football team
Laureus World Breakthrough of the Year Award: Jude Bellingham
Laureus World Comeback of the Year Award: Simone Biles
Laureus Sport for Good Award: Fundación Rafa Nadal
Laureus World Sportsperson of the Year with a Disability Award: Diede de Groot
Laureus World Action Sportsperson of the Year Award: Arisa Trew
Mario Cecchi
