Simone Biles, Tom Brady, Robert Lewandowski and Emma Raducanu and the Italian Football team have been included in the list of finalists for the 2021 Laureus World Sports Awards.
Tennis player Emma Raducanu won the US Open as a teenager. Photo: AFP
Olympic and Paralympic stars from Tokyo have been short-listed in all seven categories with the nominees voted for by 1300 members of the Laureus Global Media Panel.
NFL quarterback Tom Brady Photo: AFP
The battle for the Sportsman of the Year Award will be one of the most competitive ever. Tom Brady, the NFL's greatest-ever quarterback, is nominated along with Bayern Munich's prolific goalscorer Robert Lewandowski, new Formula One world champion Max Verstappen, tennis world No.1 Novak Djokovic, and two of the greatest Olympians: swimmer Caeleb Dressel, who won five gold medals in Tokyo, and Eliud Kipchoge, who won back-to-back marathon gold medals.
Robert Lewandowski is in line for Sportsman of the Year. Photo: PHOTOSPORT
Several historic Olympic performances dominate the Sportswoman of the Year Award category: Elaine Thompson-Herah matched fellow Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt with gold medals in the 100, 200 and 4x100 metres relay; Allyson Felix passed Carl Lewis as the most decorated track and field US Olympian; Australian swimmer Emma McKeon's four gold and three bronze medals tied the record for the most won by a woman in a single Olympic Games; and American swimmer Katie Ledecky won two more gold and two silver medals. Also short-listed are world No.1 tennis player Ashleigh Barty, who won Wimbledon, and Alexia Putellas, captain of FC Barcelona's Women's Team.
Britain's Emma Raducanu became a global tennis sensation when she won the US Open at the age of 18, and unsurprisingly she is one of the Nominees for the Laureus World Breakthrough of the Year Award, along with Russia's Daniil Medvedev, who won the men's title.
The Nominees for the Laureus World Comeback of the Year include gymnast Simone Biles who showed her courage and determination to come back to win a bronze medal on the beam in Tokyo.
The Italy Men's Football Team are among the frontrunners for the Team of the Year Award after their victory in Euro 2020.
The winners will be announced in April.
The full list of Nominees is:
LAUREUS WORLD SPORTSMAN OF THE YEAR AWARD
Tom Brady (USA) American Football - the greatest NFL quarterback, he won a record seventh Super Bowl
Novak Djokovic (Serbia) Tennis - won three Grand Slams in 2021 to take his total of career wins to 20
Caeleb Dressel (USA) Swimming - outstanding male swimmer in Tokyo with five Olympic gold medals
Eliud Kipchoge (Kenya) Athletics - became third person in history to win back-to-back Olympic marathons
Robert Lewandowski (Poland) Football - surpassed Gerd Muller's record of 40 goals in a season for Bayern
Max Verstappen (Netherlands) Motor Racing - won his first Formula One World Championship in 2021
World number one tennis player Ash Barty. Photo: PHOTOSPORT
LAUREUS WORLD SPORTSWOMAN OF THE YEAR AWARD
Ashleigh Barty (Australia) Tennis - world No.1, won Wimbledon, her second career Grand Slam
Allyson Felix (USA) Athletics - surpassed Carl Lewis as the most decorated track and field US Olympian
Katie Ledecky (USA) Swimming - won 800 and 1,500 metres freestyle golds in Tokyo, plus two silver medals
Emma McKeon (Australia) Swimming - won four gold and three bronze in Tokyo, the most by an individual
Alexia Putellas (Spain) Football - Barcelona captain; won Ballon d'Or and UEFA Women's Player of Year
Elaine Thompson-Herah (Jamaica) Athletics - won Olympic 100 and 200 metres and 4x100m relay
Italian football team Photo: AFP
LAUREUS WORLD TEAM OF THE YEAR AWARD
Argentina Men's Football Team - won Copa America; Lionel Messi's first international trophy, at age of 34
Barcelona Women's Football Team (Spain) - won first Champions League, beating English club Chelsea 4-0
China Olympic Diving Team - won gold medals in seven of the eight events staged in the pool in Tokyo
Italy Men's Football Team - under Roberto Mancini won European Championship for first time since 1968
Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team (Germany) - won record eighth Constructors Championship
Milwaukee Bucks (USA) Basketball - inspired by Giannis Antetokounmpo, won a second NBA championship
LAUREUS WORLD BREAKTHROUGH OF THE YEAR AWARD
Neeraj Chopra (India) Athletics - won javelin to become India's first winner of an Olympic athletics gold
Daniil Medvedev (Russia) Tennis - won his first ever Grand Slam, dropping only one set in the US Open
Pedri (Spain) Football - 19, played 53 times in 2020/21 for Barcelona, and every game for Spain in Euro 2020
Emma Raducanu (UK) Tennis - became a global sensation when she won the US Open at the age of 18
Yulimar Rojas (Venezuela) Athletics - broke 26-year-old world record to win triple jump gold in Tokyo
Ariarne Titmus (Australia) Swimming - aged 20, beat champion Katie Ledecky at 200 and 400m in Tokyo
Great Britain Olympic diver Tom Daley Photo: AFP
LAUREUS WORLD COMEBACK OF THE YEAR AWARD
Simone Biles (USA) Gymnastics - after withdrawing in Tokyo, she came back to win bronze in the beam
Sky Brown (UK) Skateboarding - aged 13, recovered from fractured skull to win bronze medal in Tokyo
Mark Cavendish (UK) Cycling - fought back from depression to win second Tour de France sprint title
Tom Daley (UK) Diving - had knee surgery in June, but won 10 metres synchronised gold in Tokyo
Marc Márquez (Spain) Motor Cycling - first win in 581 days, after recovering from broken arm at start of 2020
Annemiek van Vleuten (Netherlands) Cycling - won Olympic time trial days after missing gold in road race
LAUREUS SPORTSPERSON OF THE YEAR WITH A DISABILITY AWARD
Diede De Groot (Netherlands) Wheelchair Tennis - first player to complete the calendar-year Golden Slam
Marcel Hug (Switz) Wheelchair Athletics - won Paralympic gold medals in 800, 1,500, 5,000m and marathon
Shingo Kunieda (Japan) Wheelchair Tennis - host-nation hero, won fourth Paralympic gold of his career
Jetze Plat (Netherlands) Para Cycling / Para Triathlon - won three Paralympic gold medals in two sports
Susana Rodríguez (Spain) Para Triathlon - won gold in Tokyo in triathlon PTVI, her first Paralympic medal
Sarah Storey (UK) Para Cycling - won three golds from three events to take her career total to 17
Olympic surfer Carissa Moore Photo: 2019 World Surf League
LAUREUS WORLD ACTION SPORTSPERSON OF THE YEAR AWARD
Ítalo Ferreira (Brazil) Surfing - in Tokyo became the first-ever surfing Olympic gold medal winner
Alberto Ginés (Spain) Climbing - aged 18, scaled 15-metre wall in 6.42 seconds to win speed climbing gold
Yuto Horigome (Japan) Skateboarding - won first ever skateboarding Olympic gold to delight of host nation
Carissa Moore (USA) Surfing - won first ever women's Olympic surfing gold, then added her fifth world title
Momiji Nishiya (Japan) Skateboarding - at 13, won first-ever Olympic gold medal in women's street event
Bethany Shriever (UK) BMX - first woman to win both Olympic and World Championship gold in same year
LAUREUS SPORT FOR GOOD AWARD
Programmes shortlisted by a specialist selection panel; Laureus Academy select the winner
Ich will da rauf! (Germany) Climbing - disabled and non-disabled share challenge of the climbing wall
Jucà Pe Cagnà (Italy) Multi-sport - provides safe places to play away from the influence of crime
Kick 4 Life (Lesotho) Football - supports young people through health education and HIV testing
Lost Boyz Inc. (USA) Baseball/Softball - works in Chicago to decrease violence and improve social conditions
Monkey Magic (Japan) Climbing - promotes free climbing for those with visual impairment
