The soccer player Aitana Bonmatí and the women’s soccer team They were the great protagonists of Spanish sport in the Laureus Awards Gala 2024held this Monday at the Cibeles Palace in Madrid and which recognized the Catalan and the world champion as the best in their respective categories, while the third option for a ‘Sports Oscar’, forward Salma Paralluelo, was surpassed by the English midfielder of Real Madrid, Jude Bellingham.
Spanish women’s football was the great asset for this twenty-fifth edition of these awards, which for several days turned the Spanish capital into the epicenter of sport with world-class athletes and former athletes such as Usain Bolt, Tom Brady, Martina Navratilova and Nadia Comaneciand with the presence of the mayor of Madrid, José Luis Martínez-Almeidaand the president of the Community of Madrid, Isabel Diaz Ayuso.
The FC Barcelona and national team midfielder was nominated for a Laureus Award for the first time and confirmed her favoritism after a 2023 full of individual and collective successes since she added her second Champions League to her world champion title with the national team. with FC Barcelona, the Ballon d’Or, The Best, the UEFA Best Player award and the ‘MVP’ recognitions of both the World Cup and the Champions League.
The one from Sant Pere de Ribes became the first Spanish athlete to win a Laureus and after surpassing important rivals in the vote such as the Jamaican Sherica Jackson, world champion in the 200 m, the Kenyan Faith Kipyegon, the first woman in win the 1,500 and 5,000 m double at the World Championships, the American Sha’Carri Richardson, world gold in 100 m and the 4×100 relay, the Polish tennis player Iga Swiatek, current world number one and Roland Garros champion, and the American skier Mikkaela Shiffrin, who became the all-time leader in Alpine Ski World Cup victories.
“Last year was incredible for me and my teammates, both from my club and the national team. I am here for the collective, so thanks to my teammates who have helped me a lot,” said the Catalan player, who received the trophy hands of two legends like the former Jamaican athlete Usain Bolt and the former American skier Lindsey Vonn.
The other Laureus for Spanish sport of the night in Madrid was in the ‘Best Team’ category where the women’s soccer team broke another barrier by being the first women’s team to win this recognition.
The national team, which made history last summer by winning its first World Cup, surpassed rivals such as Manchester City, which won its first Champions League and the treble, two other world champions such as the German men’s basketball teams and South African rugby team, the European Ryder Cup team, which regained the trophy with the Spanish Jon Rahm in their ranks, and the Red Bull F-1 team.
“It is an honor to be here at the Laureus Awards representing all of our teammates. Since we were little we had a dream and we fulfilled it through work, effort, commitment, humility and enthusiasm,” said Ivana Andrés, captain of the team in the World Cup, who went up to collect the trophy along with Aitana Bonmatí and Salma Paralluelo.
For the Real Madrid soccer player, “this is the achievement that reflects the good work of Spanish women’s soccer and of all these generations, from the pioneers to those of today.” “All those women, all those soccer players, fighters, each one of them has contributed their grain of sand. We hope that this is the first triumph of many,” she stressed after collecting the statuette from Alessandro del Piero and Martina Navratilova.
Djokovic, best athlete for the fifth time
On the other hand, the young forward Salma Paralluelo, nominated for the ‘Best Newcomer’ of 2023 after winning her third World Cup in Australia and New Zealand with the national team after those achieved with the U-18 and U-20, to which she added also his first Champions League with FC Barcelona, but he could not beat the English midfielder from Real Madrid, Jude Bellingham.
The Real Madrid player also took the trophy ahead of Real Madrid’s Colombian forward Linda Caicedo, American tennis player Coco Gauff, US Open champion, Chinese swimmer Qin Haiyang, winner of three gold medals at the Fukuoka World Cup (Japan), and the British athlete Josh Kerr, capable of snatching the world gold in the 1,500 meters from the Norwegian Jakob Ingebrigtsen.
Furthermore, the Laureus ‘Sport for Good’ Awardwhich recognizes projects that promote sport in less favored communities, was for the Rafa Nadal Foundationwhich uses sport and education to empower more than 1,000 vulnerable young people in Spain and India.
On the other hand, regarding the ‘Best Male Athlete’ award, the winner was the Serbian tennis player Novak Djokovic, who received it from the former quarterback Tom Brady his fifth Laureus after those of 2012, 2015, 2016 and 2019. The one from Belgrade won the vote over the Argentine forward Leo Messi, winner last year, the Swedish athlete Mondo Duplantis, the Dutch pilot Max Verstappen, the Norwegian forward Erling Haaland and American athlete Noah Lyles.
Furthermore, the American gymnast Simone Biles was recognized with the Laureus for ‘Best Comeback’, an award that she thanked through a video and which surpassed the Ivorian striker Sébastien Haller, the British athlete Katarina Johnson-Thompson, the South African rugby player Siya Kolisi, the Canadian basketball player Jamal Murray and Czech tennis player Marketa Vondrousova.
Finally, the young 13-year-old Australian skater Arisa Shawwho made history in 2023 by becoming the first woman to execute a 720 (two complete rotations) in vertical skating, and the Dutch tennis player Diede de Groot, who for the third consecutive season achieved full ‘Grand Slams’, took the awards for ‘Best World Action Athlete’ and ‘Best World Athlete with a Disability’, respectively.
2024-04-22 21:27:54
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