Nominations Announced For 2021 Laureus World Sports Award

Fresh from her triumph at the Australian Open, Naomi Osaka has been nominated for the Laureus World Sportswoman of the Year award.

The Japanese, who was also champion at the US Open in 2020, has now won four grand slams following her weekend victory in Melbourne, leading to her recognition as one of the five nominees in the annual global sports awards.

Osaka said she was honoured to receive recognition at a time when “sport can make a big difference in so many ways and really help to change the world”.

Osaka faces Lyon’s Champions League-winning captain Wendie Renard, WNBA Finals MVP Breanna Stewart, double world cycling gold medallist Anna van der Breggen, World Cup skiing champion Federica Brignone and London Marathon winner Brigid Kosgei for the big prize.

Robert Lewandowski, Bayern Munich’s world footballer of the year, heads a stellar list of nominees for the equivalent men’s award.

It also features Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James, Formula One world champion Lewis Hamilton, tennis great Rafael Nadal, Uganda’s 5,000 and 10,000 metres world record holder Joshua Cheptegei, and pole vault barrier breaker Armand Duplantis.

Bayern, the Lakers and Hamilton’s Mercedes outfit are all up for the World Team of the Year Award, as are Liverpool, who won their first English top-flight title in 30 years

The Kansas City Chiefs also make the list after winning a first Super Bowl since 1970 while Argentina’s men’s rugby team are nominated after earning a first ever win over three-time world champions New Zealand.