Cape Town — Lionel Messi was named Laureus World Sportsman of the Year tonight at an inspirational celebration of the best of sport as the prestigious 2023 Laureus World Sports Awards were staged in Paris.
The biggest show in sport was back as a live and in-person event for the first time since 2020 — and every one of the eight Award winners was there to celebrate an extraordinary sporting year. They were joined by the sporting legends of the Laureus World Sports Academy, Laureus Award winners from previous years and some of the world’s greatest athletes at a glittering ceremony at the Pavillon Vendome.
🏆 Lionel Messi is the 2023 Laureus World Sportsman of the Year.
— Laureus (@LaureusSport) May 8, 2023
The iconic footballer reached even greater heights last year, when he inspired @Argentina to a historic third @FIFAWorldCup triumph. 🇦🇷#Laureus23 pic.twitter.com/kE0N7XzC1h
After a year in which the greatest footballer of his generation finally added the Fifa World Cup to his resumé — winning the Golden Ball as the tournament’s best player for good measure — Messi took to the stage twice: to receive the Laureus World Team of the Year Award on behalf of the Argentina men’s football team, and to claim his second Laureus World Sportsman of the Year Award, after sharing that prize with Lewis Hamilton in 2020. Messi has spent his career making sporting history and continued to do so tonight, becoming the first athlete to win the Laureus World Sportsman of the Year Award and Laureus World Team of the Year Award in the same year.
If Messi — currently starring for Paris St Germain — can be considered one of the greatest footballers of all time, then the winner of the Sportswoman of the Year Award is widely acknowledged as one of the greatest female sprinters in history.
Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce’s memorable 2022 — including the 100m gold medal at the World Athletics Championships — saw her pick up the Laureus World Sportswoman of the Year Award at a celebration that kicked off a sensational year of sport in France, and Paris in particular.
In the Autumn, the Rugby World Cup will be the focus of the sporting world, with both semi-finals and the final taking place at the nearby Stade de France. Then, in 2024, the same stadium will host track and field competition as the Olympics and Paralympics come to Paris.
“This is a special honour, particularly as the Laureus World Sports Awards are in Paris this year, the city that has welcomed my family since we came here in 2021,” Messi said on Monday.
“I want to thank all my teammates, not only from the national team but also at PSG — I have achieved none of this alone and I am grateful to be able to share everything with them.
“I want to thank the Laureus Academy — what makes these Awards so special to us as athletes is the fact that they are voted for by these incredible champions, my heroes, and this puts my sporting achievements in true context.
“This is the first time I have been the sole winner of the Laureus Sportsman of the Year Award and after a year when we finally won another prize we had been chasing for a long time, at the Fifa World Cup in Qatar, it’s an honour to be able to hold this Laureus Statuette.
“I was looking at the names of the incredible legends that won the Laureus Sportsman of the Year Award before me: Schumacher, Woods, Nadal, Federer, Bolt, Hamilton, Djokovic … it really sunk in what unbelievable company I’m in and what a unique honour this is.”
The full list of Winners:
Laureus World Sportsman of the Year Award: Lionel Messi
Laureus World Sportswoman of the Year Award: Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce
Laureus World Team of the Year Award: Argentina Men’s Football Team
Laureus World Breakthrough of the Year Award: Carlos Alcaraz
Laureus World Comeback of the Year Award: Christian Eriksen
Laureus World Sportsperson of the Year with a Disability Award: Catherine Debrunner
Laureus World Action Sportsperson of the Year Award: Eileen Gu
Laureus Sport for Good Award: TeamUp
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