In a ceremony where virtual reality and technology were once again needed to pull it off, speed was the star of the Laureus Awards 2021.
The event was officiated from Seville by the well-known Lindsay Vonn and in which Spanish sport, which had six nominations, did not win any of the awards for which it was competing.
Despite that, there was a special award for the Real Madrid Foundation.
The latest F1 world champion, Max Verstappen, and the triple Olympic champion, Jamaican sprinter Elaine Thompson-Herah, were recognised with the awards for best male and female athlete respectively.
Completing the mosaic were the Italian national football team, Euro 2020 champions, as the best team, and tennis player Emma Raducanu, winner of the US Open, as best breakthrough.
The most outstanding comeback was that of the young British skateboarder Sky Brown – she suffered a skull fracture in 2020 and won bronze in Tokyo – and the best Paralympic athlete, Marcel Hug, the four-time Swiss champion in Tokyo.
In addition, Britain’s Bethany Shriever, gold medallist in BMX, lifted the Cartier statuette for best extreme sports athlete and the award for the best solidarity sports project on the planet went to Lost Boyz Inc, a baseball programme on the streets of Chicago that is transforming the windy city’s most dangerous neighbourhoods through programmes to engage young people.
None of the six nominees from Spanish sport (Alexia Putellas, FC Barcelona, Pedri, Marc Marquez, Alberto Gines and Susana Rodriguez) won the vote of a popular jury made up of different members of the academy, sportsmen and women and journalists.
Rossi, Lewandowski, Brady?
Beyond just competition, the awards that were initiated 22 years ago by Nelson Mandela, wanted to honour the legends.
Robert Lewandowski, Tom Brady and Valentino Rossi were honoured with awards for their careers.
The Real Madrid Foundation, which this year celebrates its 25th anniversary, also received an award.
In addition, there was also another award for Gerald Asamoah and the Black Eagles, for their role in combating racism in German football.
Marca
