Kipchoge to battle Lewandowski, Verstappen for Laureus Award

NAIROBI, Kenya, Feb 2 – World’s greatest of all-time marathoner Eliud Kipchoge will battle it out for the Laureus World Sportsman of the Year Award with global superstars that includes Bayern Munich scoring machine Robert Lewandowski.

Others in the six-man shortlist are 2021 Formula One world champion Max Verstappen, tennis star Novak Djokovic, American footballer Tom Brady and swimmer Caeleb Dressel.

This is the third time that Kipchoge has been nominated after making the shortlist in 2019 as well as in 2020 and will be hoping to finally grasp the prestigious world gong.

In 2021, Kipchoge became the third man in history to win a back-to-back Olympic Gold men’s marathon after running a commanding race at the Tokyo 2020 Games.

In the corresponding woman’s award, US Open champion Emma Raducanu is nominated alongside Australian Open champion Ashleigh, Athletics stars Allyson Felix and Elaine Thompson-Herah as well as swimmers Katie Ledecky and Emma McKeon.

The winners will be announced in a virtual awards show in April.

Full list of nominees

Sportsman of the Year

Tom Brady (USA) American Football

Novak Djokovic (Serbia) Tennis

Caeleb Dressel (USA)

Eliud Kipchoge (Kenya) Athletics

Robert Lewandowski (Poland) Football

Max Verstappen (Netherlands) Motor Racing

Sportswoman of the Year Award

Ashleigh Barty (Australia) Tennis

Allyson Felix (USA) Athletics

Katie Ledecky (USA) Swimming

Emma McKeon (Australia) Swimming

Alexia Putellas (Spain) Football

Elaine Thompson-Herah (Jamaica) Athletics

Team of the Year

Argentina Men’s Football Team

Barcelona Women’s Football Team (Spain)

Italy Men’s Football Team

Milwaukee Bucks (USA) Basketball

Breakthrough of the Year

Neeraj Chopra (India) Athletics

Daniil Medvedev (Russia) Tennis

Pedri (Spain) Football

Emma Raducanu (UK) Tennis

Yulimar Rojas (Venezuela) Athletics

Ariarne Titmus (Australia) Swimming

Comeback of the Year

Simone Biles (USA) Gymnastics

Sky Brown (UK) Skateboarding

Mark Cavendish (UK) Cycling

Tom Daley (UK) Diving

Marc Márquez (Spain) Motor Cycling

Annemiek van Vleuten (Netherlands) Cycling

Sportsperson of the Year with a Disability

Diede De Groot (Netherlands) Wheelchair Tennis

Marcel Hug (Switz) Wheelchair Athletics

Shingo Kunieda (Japan) Wheelchair Tennis

Jetze Plat (Netherlands) Para Cycling / Para Triathlon

Susana Rodríguez (Spain) Para Triathlon

Sarah Storey (UK) Para Cycling

World Action Sportsperson of the Year

Ítalo Ferreira (Brazil) Surfing

Alberto Ginés (Spain) Climbing

Yuto Horigome (Japan) Skateboarding

Carissa Moore (USA) Surfing

Momiji Nishiya (Japan) Skateboarding

Bethany Shriever (UK) BMX

Sport for Good Award

Ich will da rauf! (Germany) Climbing

Jucà Pe Cagnà (Italy) Multi-sport

Kick 4 Life (Lesotho) Football

Lost Boyz Inc. (USA) Baseball

Monkey Magic (Japan) Climbing