On February 26, the Laureus organizing committee just announced the list of 6 candidates for the title “Male Athlete of the Year”, including: Messi, Haaland (soccer), Djokovic (tennis), Mondo Duplantis (athletics), Noah Lyles (athletics), Max Verstappen (motor racing).
As for the title “Female Athlete of the Year”, there are 5 candidates: Aitana Bonmati (soccer), Faith Kipyegon (athletics), Sha’Carri Richardson (athletics), Iga Swiatek (tennis), Mikaela Shiffrin (skiing).
The final winner will be announced in Madrid next April. Messi previously won this award in 2023.
While Haaland was only nominated for this award for the first time. Djokovic has also won this award four times in 2012, 2015, 2016 and 2019. If he wins this time, Djokovic will equal the record with Roger Federer. The legendary Swiss tennis player holds the record for winning the most Laureus awards with 5 honors.
Previously, Messi and Haaland competed for major titles such as: Golden Ball, FIFA The Best and Messi both won. Can Haaland surpass Messi this time?
It is known that in addition to the two categories for the best male and female athletes, Laureus also has other award categories including: Best sports team in the world, Breakthrough phenomenon of the year, Impressive return of the year, Paralympic Athlete of the Year…
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