Dembélé and Alacaraz Front Runners For Laureus World Sports Awards

The nominations for the 2026 Laureus World Sports Awards were announced at the Real Casa de Correos in Madrid on Tuesday  with the Awards Gala set for the Cibeles Palace on 20th April.

The inaugural Laureus Sports Awards took place in 2000 where Nelson Mandela, its first patron, gave a rousing speech about the power of sport and since then it’s been considered the Oscars for athletes.

As Laureus’s legacy grows with each year, Madrid gets ready for Madrid to host the ceremony for its third year in a row— expecting notable presences like Ousmane Dembélé, Carlos Alcaraz, and Aryna Sabalenka.

After careful consideration, the 1,300 members of the Laureus Global Media Panel have chosen six nominees for each of the six categories of the awards—which can be found in this link. 

The Laureus World Sportsman of the Year category, has nominees including two past winners, Carlos Alcaraz and Mondo Duplantis—and new football star and Ballon d’Or winner Ousmane Dembélé.

Meanwhile, the Laureus World Sportswoman of the Year category also brings two past champions: Aitana Bonmatí and Katie Ledecky — alongside the formidable Aryna Sabalenka, who is coming off a season of major titles.

Names like the 19 year old Brazilian tennis star, João Fonseca, also stood out—nominated in the category for Breakthrough of the Year, the first Brazilian to receive this nomination, and only latino in his category.

English professional darts player, Luke Littler, is also a presence to be expected as he represents a non-traditional global sport and is one of the youngest ever nominees for a Laureus award.  

The category which seemed to get the most attention during the nominee ceremony was theLaureus Sport for Good Award, where six amazing organizations stand to win the prize in their efforts to bring sports to underfunded regions. 

Currently, Sports for Good aids over 300 programs in more than 40 territories— and the initiative has raised more than 150 million euros and changed the lives of nearly six million youth.

As Laureus ambassador Boris Becker said about the category, “This is the reason we are doing this, it’s about the young boys and girls around the would, we change lives with sports for good”.

Laureus is an organization which is bigger than just its award, it has produced clear impacts across the world and has become a philantropical inspiration. 

“I knew as soon as I would retire I would be part of the laureus family…to be useful for the community” – Marcel Desailly

Both the mayor of Madrid, José Luis Martínez-Almeida, and President of the Community of Madrid, Isabel Díaz Ayuso, were present in the nominee ceremony and said they were “proud” to be hosting an award like Laureus since “sports have a capacity of transforming”.