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Laureus Award Honors World’s Outstanding Athletes

Laureus Award Honors  World’s Outstanding Athletes
Laureus Award Honors  World’s Outstanding Athletes

At sport’s most prestigious awards ceremony in Monaco, February 27, Laureus Award honored outstanding athletes and recognized the greatest sporting triumphs of last year.

The awards include best sportsman, sportswoman, team, breakthrough, comeback, disabled sportsperson, action sportsperson, plus Lifetime Achievement and Spirit of Sport Awards, according to the website of the event.

Sports fans around the world also play a significant role by voting in a global poll for the Laureus Best Sporting Moment of the Year Award, which highlights the inspirational power of sport.

The awards ceremony was attended by the greatest living sports legends, past and present. Among last year winners Usain Bolt, Simone Biles, Michael Phelps and Nico Rosberg were present at the event.

From the twelve awards presented at the ceremony, three went to two tennis players for their remarkable performance in the past year.

The 36-year-old Swiss tennis player Roger Federer received two awards including the World Sportsman of the Year, while Serena Williams from the US was named the World Sportswoman of the Year.

Federer also won the World Comeback of the Year award; he won his sixth sportsman award to add to a staggering list of achievements.

Among those Federer beat for the award was Cristiano Ronaldo, who fired Real Madrid to a third UEFA Champions League win in four seasons back in May.

Knee surgery in 2016 led to Federer missing six months. Amazingly, he returned to win Wimbledon 2017 without dropping a set at age 35.

The astonishing feat earned the Swiss master a 19th Grand Slam title. Since then, the tennis legend also won the Miami Masters title, among others.

As for Williams, a seventh Australian Open title was part of her spectacular year.

Roma lifer Francesco Totti won the Exceptional Achievement award after a glittering football career in the Italian capital. It was 2017 that marked the year the irrepressible attacking midfielder finally called time on his Roma career.

The 40-year-old made his decision official in July when he accepted a position as a director at the club he served superbly for almost a quarter of a century.

Among Totti’s most notable achievements was inspiring Roma to the Serie A title in the 2000-01 season.

 Team of the Year

Mercedes won the team award following a Formula 1 season where Lewis Hamilton captured the individual World Championship. It marked the fourth time a Mercedes driver experienced the triumph, while the team as a whole was also rewarded with the Constructors World Championship.

It was a win for Mercedes at the expense of France’s victorious Davis Cup team, as well as the New England Patriots. The Patriots were nominated after their historic comeback to beat the Atlanta Falcons in Super Bowl LI, good enough for a fifth Vince Lombardi trophy for the franchise beaten in this season’s title game by the Philadelphia Eagles in early February.

Houston Texans defensive lineman J.J. Watt still made sure the NFL was represented among the winners after earning the Sporting Inspiration award. Watt, arguably the most dominant defensive player of this generation, missed the 2017 season after fracturing his leg.

Yet his fundraising efforts to aid the city of Houston in the aftermath of hurricane Harvey were recognized with this award.

One of the more heartwarming moments came when Brazilian football club Real Chapecoense won the Best Sporting Moment award. It was given to honor the club returning to the pitch after a tragic plane crash in Colombia back in November 2016 claimed the lives of 71 people.

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