Established in 1999 the Laureus World Sports Awards is given to honor the sports teams or individuals for their phenomenal achievements throughout the year. The award was established by Laureus Sport for Good Foundation founding patrons Daimler and Richemont. Also, the supporting partners for the award include giants in their sectors named Mercedes-Benz, IWC Schaffhausen, and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group.
The first Laureus World Sports Awards ceremony was held in the year 2000 on 25 May at the Sporting Club, Monaco. In the inaugural year, the winners included American professional golfer Eldrick Tont “Tiger” Woods, American veteran athlete Marion Jones, Manchester United Football Club, Spanish professional golfer Sergio García, American veteran professional road racing cyclist Lance Armstrong, Australian paralympic wheelchair racer and coach Louise Sauvage, and American professional snowboarder, skier, mountain biker, and motocross rider Shaun Palmer.
History of the Laureus World Sports Awards
The idea of the World Sports Awards or WSA was allegedly initiated by Huber Neuper, Olympic ski jumper. His motive behind the awards was to honor and acknowledge the achievements of the top sportsmen of the 20th century. The awards were also initially named World Sports Awards of the Century which was supported by the Austrian government. The sportsman decided to conduct a nominating conference in the June of 1999 which was followed by an award ceremony in November of the same year.
After Neuper decided to make this an annual event, he started looking for sponsorships from corporates. This idea led to Laureus control over the project and the formation of an organization, that was suggested by South African businessman Johann Rupert, chairman of Richemont. Richemont and Daimler came together for a partnership to for form an organization named “Laureus” which is derived from the Greek word to denote the plants of laurels that are the symbol of victory in athletics traditionally. The first award ceremony was attended by then South African President Nelson Mandela.
How Winner is Chosen for Laureus World Sports Awards?
There are the following six categories for the Laureus World Sports Awards:
- Laureus World Sportsman of the Year
- Laureus World Sportswoman of the Year
- Laureus World Team of the Year
- Laureus World Comeback of the Year
- Laureus World Breakthrough of the Year
- Laureus Action Sportsperson of the Year
The nominees are chosen through voting by Laureus World Sports Academy which is an association comprising of over 68 retired sportspeople who voluntarily chose to do the same The voting is conducted via a secret ballot. There is also a public voting system for one category that is known as the Laureus Best Sporting Moment of the Year.
Additionally, there are other categories that are created by the academy known as, the Lifetime Achievement Award, Sport for Good Award, Spirit of Sport Award, Exceptional Achievement Award, and Sporting Inspiration Award. Also, the International Paralympic Committee is tasked to choose from the nominees for Laureus World Sportsperson of the Year with a Disability.
Ceremony and Honorarium
As mentioned above, the first Laureus World Sports Awards ceremony was held in the year 2000 on 25 May at the Sporting Club, Monaco, and by the year 2020, the award ceremony has been held in eleven cities across the world while being broadcasted at over 160 countries.
The winners receive a Cartier Laureus statuette which features a representation of the striving human form. The approx. weight of the award is over 2.5 kg which is 30 cm tall and contains 670 grams of solid silver, and a 650-gram gold-finish base.