The Laureus World Sports Awards, which celebrate the outstanding achievements of sportsmen and sportswomen around the world, will return to Europe in 2016. The Awards, to be held in Berlin on April 18, will be hosted in Germany for the first time.
Global reach
In front of a global television and online audience, the Awards will be attended by the biggest names in sport, both past and present. The event returns to Europe for the first time since London in 2012, after taking place in leading sports cities around the world in recent years, including Rio de Janeiro and Shanghai.
Consisting of seven categories, the Awards will celebrate the achievements of the outstanding athletes from 2015, crowning the Sportsman, Sportswoman, Action, Disability athlete and Team of the Year. The Awards will also recognise the greatest sporting Breakthrough of 2015, as well as choosing the most impressive Comeback.
Among the sporting greats who have been named as winners of Laureus Awards since 2000 are Usain Bolt, Novak Djokovic, Michael Schumacher, Roger Federer, Serena Williams, Alex Ferguson, Lewis Hamilton, Rafael Nadal, Pelé, Steve Redgrave, Ronaldo, Kelly Slater, Shaun White, Yelena Isenbayeva and Zinedine Zidane.
Following on from the Nominations voting, by a panel of 2,000 of the world’s leading sports media, the winners of the 2016 Laureus World Sports Awards will be selected in a secret ballot of the ultimate sports jury - the 55 members of the Laureus World Sports Academy, all living legends of sport. Laureus Award winners receive a Laureus statuette exclusively produced by Cartier.
Berlin Mayor delighted
Michael Mueller, Mayor of Berlin, said: “The Laureus World Sports Awards celebrate the achievements of the world's top sportsmen and women and highlight the incredible power of sport. All around the world sports brings people together. The spirit of the Laureus Awards fits to a city like Berlin. We are delighted to be the first German city to host this special event.”
Social challenges
At the inaugural Laureus World Sports Awards in 2000, Nelson Mandela, who later became the Patron of Laureus, said: “Sport has the power to change the world. It has the power to inspire. It has the power to unite people in a way that little else does. Sport can awaken hope where there was previously only despair.”
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