Max Verstappen, Elaine Thompson-Herah win top honours at Laureus Sports Awards 2022-Sports News , Firstpost

Max Verstappen celebrates on the podium after winning the 2021 Formula One Drivers’ Championship. AP File

Formula One world champion Max Verstappen and Jamaican Olympic sprinter Elaine Thompson-Herah have been named Laureus World Sportsman and Laureus World Sportswoman of the Year in 2022.

Verstappen won the F1 driver’s title last December with a controversial win at the Abu Dhabi GP. He beat Tom Brady, Novak Djokovic, Caeleb Dressel, Eliud Kipchoge and Robert Lewandowski to win the award.

“I was very happy, of course, but it was a lot of hard work and years of preparation. I’m incredibly proud. Since I was a little kid I dreamt of being on the top step and winning the championship,” he said.

Thompson-Herah had defended her 100 and 200 metres Olympic titles in Tokyo, and also won a third gold in the 4 x 100m relay. She beat Ashleigh Barty, Allyson Felix, Katie Ledecky, Emma McKeon and Alexia Putellas to win the prestigious award.

“I know Usain has won Laureus Awards before, so to bring this trophy back home to the Caribbean, also in Jamaica, is very special. I have watched that [100 metres] race about a thousand times now. I would say I am very, very proud, but I cannot dwell on the past. Even though it’s very special, it’s memories. I cannot just sit and say ‘OK, I’m a double Olympic champion, I’m a five-time Olympic gold medallist. I have to continue working because my motivation is to be even better,” she said.

Other big winners included European champions Italian men’s football team who win their second Laureus Team of the Year Award as a result, while global tennis sensation Emma Raducanu received the Laureus Breakthrough of the Year Award following her US Open victory at the age of 18.

The Laureus World Sports Academy also made special presentations to three giants of sport: Tom Brady, seven-time winner of the Super Bowl, is honoured with the Laureus Lifetime Achievement Award; Robert Lewandowski receives the Laureus Academy Exceptional Achievement Award for achievements including breaking Gerd Muller’s long-standing goalscoring record in the Bundesliga; and hugely popular motor cycle racer Valentino Rossi is presented with the Laureus Sporting Icon Award, after retiring in November at the end of a 25-year career.

Laureus World Comeback of the Year Winner is skateboard star Sky Brown, who suffered a skull fracture when she landed headfirst from a half-pipe in training in June 2020. She was unresponsive when she arrived at hospital, but recovered fully and was able to compete in the Olympics. Aged 13 years and 28 days, she finished third in the park final to win a bronze medal, making her Britain’s youngest ever Olympic medallist.

Swiss wheelchair racer Marcel Hug is named Laureus World Sportsperson of the Year with a Disability for the second time after winning four gold medals in the Tokyo Paralympic Games in the 800, 1,500 and 5,000 metres and marathon; he also set a world record in the 1,500m and a Paralympic record in the 5,000m. In a stunning 2021, Marcel also won the Berlin, New York and Boston marathons.

The full list of Winners is:

Laureus World Sportsman of the Year Award: Max Verstappen

Laureus World Sportswoman of the Year Award: Elaine Thompson-Herah

Laureus World Team of the Year Award: Italy men’s football team

Laureus World Breakthrough of the Year Award: Emma Raducanu

Laureus World Comeback of the Year Award: Sky Brown

Laureus World Sportsperson of the Year with a Disability Award: Marcel Hug

Laureus World Action Sportsperson of the Year Award: Bethany Shriever

Laureus Lifetime Achievement Award: Tom Brady

Laureus Academy Exceptional Achievement Award: Robert Lewandowski

Laureus Sporting Icon Award: Valentino Rossi

Laureus Sport for Good Award: Lost Boyz Inc.

Laureus Sport for Good Society Award: Real Madrid Foundation

Laureus Athlete Advocate of the Year Award: Gerald Asamoah and the Black Eagles

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