Is the Laureus World Sports Award truly a reflection of the best in world sports, or is it just another western-centric awards?
The selection of the nominees is made based on the votes cast by sports media around the world. Laureus itself claims that it is the world’s pre-eminent international sports award.
While many of the nominated deserve a place in the list, there are also a number of others who have been given the snub. Just like the Oscar this year that has opted more predominantly male white nominees, the Laureus has opted to nominate only those from the mainstream sports.
Eliud Kipchoge and Lewis Hamilton are among those shortlisted for the Sportsman of the Year, but there is no place for the most dominant badminton player of the year – Kento Momota.
Surely with a record international 11 titles under his belt in 2019, including the World Championships, the Japanese star deserves a spot in the list.
Italian Gabrielle Gori scored 16 goals to help his side to the final of the World Beach Soccer Championships last year. He is one of the highest goalscorers of all-time in the sport, having amassed over 600 as of 2019, including winning the top scorer award at the 2017 and 2019 World Cup. No, his name did not even come under the radar.
Surely too, that either the Chinese men or women’s table tennis team deserve to be among the shortlist for the Team of the Year. The Chinese men have been unbeaten since 2007 while the women, more impressively since 1995.
After all Liverpool and the Toronto Raptors are on the shortlist for the World Team of the Year, by winning only regional and national level competitions.
The all-conquering Egyptian squash men’s and women’s teams also deserve a second look as they dominate both the team and individual competitions with the likes of Ali Farag and Nour El Sherbini leading the charge.
Teenager Coco Gauff, with one international title to her name, is seen a breakthrough athlete of the year, mainly because she defeated former champion Venus Williams at the Wimbledon.
Taking that as a barometer, and again using a badminton player as an example, shouldn’t 17-year-old An Se–Young also be on the shortlist. Se-Young won five international titles last year including the French Open Super 750 event, defeating reigning Olympic and three time women’s singles champion Carolina Marin in the final.
Fallon Sherrock, who became the first women ever to win not one but two matches at the male dominated PDC World Championships, at least deserves a mention.
Or how about Thailand’s women’s cricket team that qualified for the Women’s T20 World Cup? Wasn’t it a breakthrough achievement?
Chess is recognised as sports by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), the most recognised face in the sport, Magnus Carlsen is not nominated and is unlikely to be in the near future.
The undisputed world champion since 2013, was unbeaten in 101 classical games last year, a record he has continued through to this year, still unbeaten after 111 matches. He also won the World Rapid Chess and World Blitz Chess titles in 2019.
The main selection criteria for the Laureus awards like many other awards seems to be “Out of Sight, Out of Mind”.
Every nominee in the shortlist receive huge media attention in Europe and the Americas, and it seems like that the Laureus award is just another popularity contest rather than true indication of sports excellence.
To be fair there are some very exceptional athletes in the list, but there many with equal or even stronger performance in their sports, being overlooked because they were not under the media radar.
Whether it is judo, or lawn bowls, rowing or archery, volleyball or floorball, every sport has its own GOAT. Just because the media are unaware of their achievement, does not mean that their achievements are not on par with the popular athletes.
LAUREUS AWARDS NOMINEES
SPORTSMAN OF THE YEAR: Eliud Kipchoge (Athletics, Kenya), Lewis Hamilton (Formula One, UK), Lionel Messi (Football, Arg), Marc Marquez (Motor Cycling, Esp), Rafael Nadal (Tennis, Esp), Tiger Woods (Golf, USA)
SPORTSWOMAN OF THE YEAR: Allyson Felix (Athletics, USA), Megan Rapinoe (Football, USA), Mikaela Shiffrin (Skiing, USA), Naomi Osaka (Tennis, Jpn), Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce (Athletics, Jam), Simone Biles (Gymnastics, USA)
TEAM OF THE YEAR: Liverpool FC, Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team, South Africa Rugby Union Team, Spain Men’s Basketball Team, Toronto Raptors, United States Women’s Football Team
BREAKTHROUGH OF THE YEAR: Andy Ruiz (Boxing, USA), Bianca Andreescu (Tennis, Can), Coco Gauff (Tennis, USA), Egan Bernal (Cycling, Col), Japan Men’s Rugby Team, Regan Smith swimming (USA)
COMEBACK OF THE YEAR: Andy Murray (Tennis, UK), Christian Lealiifano (Rugby Union, Aus), Kahwi Leonard (Basketball, USA), Liverpool FC (Football, UK), Nathan Adrian (Swimming, USA), Sophia Florsch (Motor Racing, Ger)
SPORTSPERSON OF THE YEAR WITH A DISABILITY: Alice Tai (Swimming, USA), Diede De Groot (Wheelchair Tennis, Ned), Jetze Plat (Triathlon, Ned), Manuela Schar (Wheelchair Racing, Sui), Oksana Masters (Cross Country Skiing, USA), Omara Durand (Athletics, Cub).
ACTION SPORTSPERSON OF THE YEAR: Carissa Moore (Surfing, USA), Chloe Kim (Snowboarding, USA), Italo Ferreira (Surfing, Bra), Mark Mc Morris (Snowboarding, Can), Nyhaj Huston (Skateboarding, USA), Rayssa Leal (Skateboarding, Bra)
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