Nadal, Thiem, Osaka, Swiatek nominated for Laureus Awards
Rafael Nadal , Dominic Thiem , Naomi Osaka and Iga Swiatek are among the nominees for the prestigious Laureus Award.
by tennisnet.com
last edit: Feb 24, 2021, 01:28 pm
As a rule, athlete prizes are awarded at the end of the year, Dominic Thiem, for example, was able to look forward to being awarded Austria's athlete of the year for the first time a few weeks ago. The Laureus takes a little more time - but has an eye on global sporting events. The nomination lists published on Wednesday suggest that tennis has not lost any of its attractiveness. Four professionals are nominated.
First of all, there is Naomi Osaka, who has already been named one of the sports personalities of the year by the US Sports Illustrated. Osaka, which won the US Open in 2020 and the Australian Open a few days ago, was nominated in the "Female Sportswoman of the Year" category. Competitors are the Japanese overall World Cup winner Federica Brignone, the Dutch cyclist Anna van der Breggen, soccer player Wendie Renard, basketball player Breanna Stewart and athlete Brigid Kosgei.
Rafael Nadal won his 13th singles title in Roland Garros, and the Spaniard could be the men's athlete of the year. Nadal competes against basketball superstar LeBron James, Formula 1 world champion Lewis Hamilton, world footballer Robert Lewandowski, athlete Joshua Cheptegei and pole vaulter Armand Duplantis.
Dominic Thiem, who won his first major in New York City, and Iga Swiatek could win the Biggest Breakthrough Award of the Year. However, compete against each other. Also nominated in this category are NFL quarterback Patrick Mahomes, Tour de France winner Tadej Pogacar, Moto GP world champion Joan Mir and Anus Fati, the youngster of FC Barcelona.