Industry News
American ski racer Mikaela Shiffrin is one of only six nominees as Sportswoman of the year by the prestigious Laureus World Sports Awards. The Laureus World Sports Awards honors the world’s greatest and most inspirational sporting triumphs of the year.
The Laureus World Sports Awards were first given out in 2000 and feature seven categories: Sportswoman, Sportsman, Team, Breakthrough, Comeback, Action, and Sport for Good. The nominees are chosen from a vote by more than 1,000 sports media from over 70 countries, while the nominees for World Athlete of the Year with a Disability are provided by the International Paralympic Committee. The Laureus World Sports Academy, made up of a unique group of sporting legends, votes for the winners in each shortlisted category and The Academy also has the ability to grant discretionary awards, such as the Laureus Lifetime Achievement Award.
“There is nothing like the Laureus Awards when it comes to bringing athletes together to celebrate not just what we’ve all achieved, but the impact sport has globally. Laureus gives us a unique platform to interact with each other and make a difference.”
— Mikaela Shiffrin
Shiffrin is said to be nominated for passing the all-time mark of 86 World Cup wins set by Ingemar Stenmark in the 22/23 season and also won her seventh World Championship. Shiffrin said: “2023 was an absolutely incredible year for me—and was even more special after what I’ve experienced in the last few years. Since I reset the record last season, I’ve thought a lot about why a record is actually important to an athlete…and I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s not important to merely break records or reset records. It’s important to set the tone for the next generation and inspire them. That’s why I’m honored to be nominated for the Sportswoman Award once more alongside such an inspirational group of fellow athletes.”
Shiffrin is the only skier nominated in all of the categories. Switzerland’s Marco Odermatt, who at only 26 years of age has won 35 World Cup titles, two back-to-back Overall Crystal Globes, and won two World Championships in 2023, has not been nominated, much to the dismay of the Swiss Ski Association. Swiss newspapers quoted a spokesperson for Swiss Ski as saying, “It is beyond our knowledge which criteria were decisive for this and who ultimately made the selection. In general, it is difficult to compare sports and their representatives with each other. We would have been happy for Marco Odermatt and the Swiss [snow] sport if he had been considered as a double world champion and superior overall World Cup winner.” Odermatt famously shattered the 2,000-point mark last season and broke the previous record for most points in a World Cup season, previously held by Austria’s Hermann Maier.
Nominees for Laureus World Sportswoman of the Year:
- Aitana Bonmatí (Football, Spain)
- Shericka Jackson (Athletics, Jamaica)
- Faith Kipyegon (Athletics, Kenya)
- Sha’Carri Richardson (Athletics, USA)
- Mikaela Shiffrin (Alpine Skiing, USA)
- Iga Swigtek (Tennis, Poland)
Nominees for Laureus World Sportswoman of the Year:
- Novak Djokovic (Tennis, Serbia)
- Mondo Duplantis (Athletics, Sweden)
- Erling Haaland (Football, Norway)
- Noah Lyles (Athletics, USA)
- Lionel Messi (Football, Argentina)
- Max Verstappen (Motor Racing, Netherlands)
