Swimmers, Sprinters and Champions Line Up for Madrid Awards

Katie Ledecky is one of the athletes who will be honored at the Laureus World Sports Awards in Madrid on April 20. She earned her place by winning both the 800‑meter and 1500‑meter freestyle races at last August’s World Swimming Championships. In the 800‑meter event, she became the first swimmer to claim seven world titles in a single discipline. Her total of 30 career world medals puts her just behind Michael Phelps’ record. Sydney McLaughlin‑Levrone also made the nominee list for World Sportswoman of the Year. She captured gold in the 400‑meter dash and as part of the 4×400‑meter relay at the September World Track & Field Championships. Her time of 47. 78 seconds in the 400‑meter was only a fraction off the long‑standing world record of 47. 60, making it the second fastest ever. Melissa Jefferson‑Wooden rounded out the trio of nominees. She became only the second woman to win gold in the 100‑meter, 200‑meter and 4×100‑meter events at a single world championship, following in the footsteps of Shelly‑Ann Fraser‑Pryce.

Other contenders for World Sportswoman of the Year include Kenyan runner Faith Kipyegon, Spanish footballer Aitana Bonmatí and Belarusian tennis star Aryna Sabalenka. The previous year’s winner, gymnast Simone Biles, claimed the award for a record fourth time. The male nominees feature Olympic champions such as Swedish pole vaulter Mondo Duplantis, who also took home the award last year. Spanish tennis player Carlos Alcaraz and Slovenian cyclist Tadej Pogacar complete the list of contenders for World Sportsman of the Year. American athletes are represented in several special categories. Para‑hockey player Kelsey DiClaudio is up for Sportsperson of the Year with a Disability, snowboarder Chloe Kim vies for Action Sportsperson of the Year, and tennis player Amanda Anisimova is in the running for Comeback of the Year.

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