Laureus World Sports Award for Comeback of the Year

The Laureus World Sports Award for Comeback of the Year is an annual award honouring the achievements of those individuals or teams who have made a comeback performance in the world of sports. It was first awarded in 2000 as one of the seven constituent awards presented during the Laureus World Sports Awards.[1] The awards are presented by the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation, a global organisation involved in more than 150 charity projects supporting 500,000 young people.[3] The first ceremony was held on 25 May 2000 in Monte Carlo, at which Nelson Mandela gave the keynote speech.[4] As of 2021, a shortlist of six nominees for the award comes from a panel composed of the "world's leading sports editors, writers and broadcasters".[1] The Laureus World Sports Academy then selects the individual winner or winning team who is presented with a Laureus statuette, created by Cartier, at an annual awards ceremony held in various locations around the world.[5] The awards are considered highly prestigious and are frequently referred to as the sporting equivalent of the "Oscars".[6][7][8]

Laureus World Sports Award for Comeback of the Year
Awarded for"sportsperson or team who has overcome injury, illness, adversity, disappointment or failure and risen back to triumph in the sporting arena. The Award may also mark a historic fightback by an individual or a team in a sporting event or series of sports events."[1]
LocationSeville (2021)[2]
Presented byLaureus Sport for Good Foundation
First awarded2000
Currently held byUnited States Simone Biles
WebsiteOfficial website

The inaugural winner of the award was American road cyclist Lance Armstrong. Having recovered from testicular cancer, which had spread to his brain, lungs and abdomen,[9] he returned to cycling in 1998 and won the 1999 Tour de France.[10] Following Armstrong's 2013 admission of doping,[11] all his Laureus awards and nominations were rescinded.[12] As of 2023, the award has been won by a different individual sportsperson every year (seven to women, seventeen to men), although elevens teams have been nominated – the England men's cricket team (2005), Miami Heat (2007), the Great Britain national rugby league team (2008), Crusaders (2012), Queensland Reds (2012), European Ryder Cup Team (2013), Germany Men's Olympic Eights Team (2013), Oracle Team USA (2014), FC Barcelona (2018), Chapecoense (2018) and Liverpool F.C. (2022). Tennis players dominate the winners list, with seven awards, while athletes, golfers and rugby union players have won twice. The 2024 winner of the award was the American artistic gymnast Simone Biles.[13]

List of winners and nominees

edit
Key
* Indicates individual whose award or nomination was later rescinded
Laureus World Sports Award for Comeback of the Year winners and nominees
Year Image Winner Nationality Sport Nominees Refs
2000   Lance Armstrong*   USA Cycling Andre Agassi (  USA) – tennis
Ludmila Engquist (  SWE) – athletics
[12][14]
2001   Jennifer Capriati   USA Tennis Heike Drechsler (  GER) – athletics
Janica Kostelić (  CRO) – alpine skiing
Mario Lemieux (  CAN) – ice hockey
Dara Torres (  USA) – swimming
[15][16]
2002   Goran Ivanišević   CRO Tennis John Daly (  USA) – golf
Michael Jordan (  USA) – basketball
Bernhard Langer (  GER) – golf
Mario Lemieux (  CAN) – ice hockey
[8][17]
2003   Ronaldo   BRA Football Janica Kostelić (  CRO) – alpine skiing
Hermann Maier (  AUT) – alpine skiing
Pete Sampras (  USA) – tennis
Franziska van Almsick (  GER) – swimming
[18][19]
2004   Hermann Maier   AUT Alpine skiing Fred Couples (  USA) – golf
Inge de Bruijn (  NED) – swimming
Peter Forsberg (  SWE) – ice hockey
Martina Navratilova (  USA) – tennis
Alex Zanardi (  ITA) – auto racing
[20][21]
2005   Alex Zanardi   ITA Auto racing John Daly (  USA) – golf
England Men's Cricket Team (  ENG) – cricket
Tadahiro Nomura (  JPN) – judo
Paula Radcliffe (  ENG) – athletics
Shane Warne (  AUS) – cricket
[22][23]
2006   Martina Hingis    SUI Tennis Kajsa Bergqvist (  SWE) – athletics
Kim Clijsters (  BEL) – tennis
Antoine Dénériaz (  FRA) – alpine skiing
Jonah Lomu (  NZL) – rugby union
Colin Montgomerie (  SCO) – golf
[24][25]
2007   Serena Williams   USA Tennis Drew Brees (  USA) – American football
Ben Curtis (  USA) – golf
Roy Jones Jr. (  USA) – boxing
Miami Heat (  USA) – basketball
Zinedine Zidane (  FRA) – football
[26][27]
2008   Paula Radcliffe   GBR Athletics Christine Ohuruogu (  GBR) – athletics
Great Britain national rugby league team (  GBR) – rugby league
Jana Rawlinson (  AUS) – athletics
Steve Stricker (  USA) – golf
Jonny Wilkinson (  GBR) – rugby union
[28][29]
2009   Vitali Klitschko   UKR Boxing Anna Meares (  AUS) – cycling
Greg Norman (  AUS) – golf
Matthias Steiner (  GER) – weightlifting
Maarten van der Weijden (  NED) – swimming
Tiger Woods (  USA) – golf
[30][31]
2010   Kim Clijsters   BEL Tennis Lance Armstrong* (  USA) – cycling
Jessica Ennis (  GBR) – athletics
Brett Favre (  USA) – American football
Blanka Vlašić (  CRO) – athletics
Tom Watson (  USA) – golf
[32][33]
2011   Valentino Rossi   ITA MotoGP Carolina Klüft (  SWE) – athletics
Merlene Ottey (  SLO) – athletics
Tyson Gay (  USA) – athletics
Justine Henin (  BEL) – tennis
Paula Creamer (  USA) – golf
[34][35]
2012   Darren Clarke   GBR Golf Crusaders (  NZL) – rugby union
Eric Abidal (  FRA) – football
Queensland Reds (  AUS) – rugby union
Liu Xiang (  CHN) – athletics
Sergio García (  ESP) – golf
[36][37]
2013   Félix Sánchez   DOM Athletics Anna Meares (  AUS) – cycling
Ernie Els (  RSA) – golf
Europe Ryder Cup Team (  Europe) – golf
Germany Men's Olympic Eights Team (  GER) – rowing
Tirunesh Dibaba (  ETH) – athletics
[38][39]
2014   Rafael Nadal   ESP Tennis Yelena Isinbayeva (  RUS) – athletics
Oracle Team USA (  USA) – sailing
Tony Parker (  FRA) – basketball
Ronaldinho (  BRA) – football
Tiger Woods (  USA) – golf
[40][41]
2015   Schalk Burger   RSA Rugby union Francesco Acerbi (  ITA) – football
Diego Milito (  ARG) – football
Jo Pavey (  GBR) – athletics
Pierre Vaultier (  FRA) – snowboarding
Oliver Wilson (  GBR) – golf
[42][43]
2016   Dan Carter   NZL Rugby union Jessica Ennis-Hill (  GBR) – athletics
Mick Fanning (  AUS) – surfing
Michael Phelps (  USA) – swimming
David Rudisha (  KEN) – athletics
Lindsey Vonn (  USA) – alpine skiing
[44][45]
2017   Michael Phelps   USA Swimming Ruth Beitia (  ESP) – athletics
Juan Martín del Potro (  ARG) – tennis
Fabienne St Louis (  MUS) – triathlon
Nick Skelton (  GBR) – equestrian
Aksel Lund Svindal (  NOR) – alpine skiing
[46][47]
2018   Roger Federer    SUI Tennis FC Barcelona (  ESP) – football
Justin Gatlin (  USA) – athletics
Sally Pearson (  AUS) – athletics
Valentino Rossi (  ITA) – MotoGP
Chapecoense (  BRA) – football
[48][49]
2019   Tiger Woods   USA Golf Vinesh Phogat (  IND) – freestyle wrestling
Yuzuru Hanyu (  JPN) – figure skating
Mark McMorris (  CAN) – snowboarding
Lindsey Vonn (  USA) – alpine skiing
Bibian Mentel-Spee (  NED) – para-snowboarding
[50][51]
2020   Sophia Flörsch   GER Auto racing Andy Murray (  GBR) – tennis
Christian Lealiifano (  AUS) – rugby union
Kawhi Leonard (  USA) – basketball
Liverpool F.C. (  GBR) – football
Nathan Adrian (  USA) – swimming
[52][53]
2021
Max Parrot   CAN Snowboarding Daniel Bard (  USA) – baseball
Kento Momota (  JPN) – badminton
Alex Morgan (  USA) – football
Mikaela Shiffrin (  USA) – alpine skiing
Alex Smith (  USA) – American football
[54]
2022   Sky Brown   GBR Skateboarding Simone Biles (  USA) – gymnastics
Mark Cavendish (  GBR) – cycling
Tom Daley (  GBR) – diving
Marc Márquez (  ESP) – MotoGP
Annemiek van Vleuten (  NED) – cycling
[55][56]
2023   Christian Eriksen   DEN Football Annemiek van Vleuten (  NLD) – cycling
Francesco Bagnaia (  ITA) – MotoGP
Jakob Ingebrigtsen (  NOR) – athletics
Klay Thompson (  USA) – basketball
Tiger Woods (  USA) – golf
[57]
2024   Simone Biles   USA Gymnastics Katarina Johnson-Thompson (  GBR) – athletics
Siya Kolisi (  RSA) – rugby sevens
Sébastien Haller (  CIV) – association football
Jamal Murray (  CAN) – basketball
Marketa Vondrousova (  CZE) – tennis
[13]

Statistics

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Statistics are correct as of 2024 awards.

References

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