Iga Świątek, last year’s French Open and U.S. Open tennis winner, has been shortlisted for the prestigious Laureus World Sports Award in the “Sportswoman of the Year” category.
“Won the French Open and US Open titles in 2022 and had an unbeaten run of 37 straight victories, which ended at Wimbledon. It was the longest winning streak of the 21st century and she finished the year as world No.1. Swiatek posted a 67-9 win-loss record, the most wins in a season since Serena Williams in 2013. She had six WTA championship wins during the year: Qatar, Indian Wells, Miami, Stuttgart, Italian Open and SanDiego,” reads the Laureus official website..
The leader of the world list will compete for the prize against five rivals. Among them are three American women: Olympic gold medalist and world champion in the 400-meter dash Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, four-time world swimming champion Katie Ledecky, and Big Crystal Ball winner in alpine skiing Mikaela Shiffrin.
The ladies’ category is rounded out by 100-meter world champion Shelly-Ann Fraser Pryce of Jamaica and two-time winner (the first woman in history to do so) of the Golden Boot, Spanish soccer player Alexia Putellas.
The list of hopefuls for the Sportsman of the Year award opens with Qatar’s world soccer champion Argentine Lionel Messi. The list includes his Paris Saint-Germain club teammate, French Kylian Mbappe. Other candidates include American basketball star Stephen Curry, Swedish world and Olympic pole vault champion and world record holder Armand Duplantis, Dutch Formula One world champion Max Verstappen, and Spanish tennis player and winner of 22 Grand Slam titles Rafael Nadal.
In the “Comeback” category, one of the candidates is Danish soccer player Christian Eriksen, who was resuscitated on the field during a Euro 2020 match. The player had a heart implant after an arduous rehabilitation process. He returned to soccer eight months later with Brentford and moved to Manchester United the following season.
Last year Robert Lewandowski was among the winners. The Polish soccer player was decorated in the “Exceptional Achievement” category.
The then Bayern Munich player was honored for breaking the almost half-century-old record of the famous Gerd “Bomber” Müller in the number of goals scored in a single Bundesliga season. The Pole finished the 2020/21 competition with 41 goals.
The previous two editions of Laureus were held online due to COVID-19.
The Laureus World Sports Awards are annual awards in the field of sports presented by juries consisting of prominent sports personalities. First handed out in 2000 in Monaco, the awards are presented for individual or team achievements in the calendar year preceding the gala.
