Laureus World Sports Award for Comeback of the Year

Laureus World Sports Award for Comeback of the Year
Awarded for	"sportsperson or team who has overcome injury, illness, adversity, disappointment or failure and risen back to triumph in the sporting arena. The Award may also mark a historic fightback by an individual or a team in a sporting event or series of sports events." [1]
Location	Madrid (2025)
Presented by	Laureus Sport for Good Foundation
First award	2000
Currently held by	Rebeca Andrade (2025)
Website	Official website

The Laureus World Sports Award for Comeback of the Year is an annual award to honor an individual or team who have made a comeback in sports. First presented in 2000, it is one of the seven awards presented during the annual Laureus World Sports Awards ^[1] of the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation, a global organisation involved in more than 150 charity projects supporting 500,000 young people. ^[2] The awards are considered highly prestigious and are frequently referred to as the sporting equivalent of the Oscars. ^{[3] [4] [5]}

Each year, a panel composed of the "world's leading sports editors, writers and broadcasters" makes a shortlist of candidates, of which one winner is chosen by the Laureus World Sports Academy. ^[1] At the ceremony, which was first held on 25 May 2000 in Monte Carlo ^[6] and since at various locations around the world, the winner receives a Laureus statuette created by Cartier. ^[7]

The first winner of the award was American road cyclist Lance Armstrong, who had recovered from testicular cancer to win the 1999 Tour de France. ^{[8] [9]} After Armstrong admitted to doping in 2013, ^[10] Laureus rescinded his awards and nominations. ^[11] As of 2023 ^[update] , the award has been won by a different individual sportsperson every year (seven to women, 17 to men), although elevens teams have been nominated – the England men's cricket team (2005), Miami Heat (2007), the Great Britain national rugby league team (2008), Crusaders (2012), Queensland Reds (2012), European Ryder Cup Team (2013), Germany Men's Olympic Eights Team (2013), Oracle Team USA (2014), FC Barcelona (2018), Chapecoense (2018) and Liverpool F.C. (2022). Tennis players dominate the winners list, with seven awards, while athletes, golfers and rugby union players have won twice. The 2025 winner of the award was the Brazilian artistic gymnast Rebeca Andrade.

List of winners and nominees

Key

*	Indicates individual whose award or nomination was later rescinded

Laureus World Sports Award for Comeback of the Year winners and nominees

Year	Image	Winner	Nationality	Sport	Nominees	Refs
2000		Lance Armstrong *	USA	Cycling	Andre Agassi ( USA) – tennis Ludmila Engquist ( SWE) – athletics	[11] [12]
2001		Jennifer Capriati	USA	Tennis	Heike Drechsler ( GER) – athletics Janica Kostelić ( CRO) – alpine skiing Mario Lemieux ( CAN) – ice hockey Dara Torres ( USA) – swimming	[13] [14]
2002		Goran Ivanišević	CRO	Tennis	John Daly ( USA) – golf Michael Jordan ( USA) – basketball Bernhard Langer ( GER) – golf Mario Lemieux ( CAN) – ice hockey	[5] [15]
2003		Ronaldo	BRA	Football	Janica Kostelić ( CRO) – alpine skiing Hermann Maier ( AUT) – alpine skiing Pete Sampras ( USA) – tennis Franziska van Almsick ( GER) – swimming	[16] [17]
2004		Hermann Maier	AUT	Alpine skiing	Fred Couples ( USA) – golf Inge de Bruijn ( NED) – swimming Peter Forsberg ( SWE) – ice hockey Martina Navratilova ( USA) – tennis Alex Zanardi ( ITA) – auto racing	[18] [19]
2005		Alex Zanardi	ITA	Auto racing	John Daly ( USA) – golf England Men's Cricket Team ( ENG) – cricket Tadahiro Nomura ( JPN) – judo Paula Radcliffe ( ENG) – athletics Shane Warne ( AUS) – cricket	[20] [21]
2006		Martina Hingis	SUI	Tennis	Kajsa Bergqvist ( SWE) – athletics Kim Clijsters ( BEL) – tennis Antoine Dénériaz ( FRA) – alpine skiing Jonah Lomu ( NZL) – rugby union Colin Montgomerie ( SCO) – golf	[22] [23]
2007		Serena Williams	USA	Tennis	Drew Brees ( USA) – American football Ben Curtis ( USA) – golf Roy Jones Jr. ( USA) – boxing Miami Heat ( USA) – basketball Zinedine Zidane ( FRA) – football	[24] [25]
2008		Paula Radcliffe	GBR	Athletics	Christine Ohuruogu ( GBR) – athletics Great Britain national rugby league team ( GBR) – rugby league Jana Rawlinson ( AUS) – athletics Steve Stricker ( USA) – golf Jonny Wilkinson ( GBR) – rugby union	[26] [27]
2009		Vitali Klitschko	UKR	Boxing	Anna Meares ( AUS) – cycling Greg Norman ( AUS) – golf Matthias Steiner ( GER) – weightlifting Maarten van der Weijden ( NED) – swimming Tiger Woods ( USA) – golf	[28] [29]
2010		Kim Clijsters	BEL	Tennis	Lance Armstrong* ( USA) – cycling Jessica Ennis ( GBR) – athletics Brett Favre ( USA) – American football Blanka Vlašić ( CRO) – athletics Tom Watson ( USA) – golf	[30] [31]
2011		Valentino Rossi	ITA	MotoGP	Carolina Klüft ( SWE) – athletics Merlene Ottey ( SLO) – athletics Tyson Gay ( USA) – athletics Justine Henin ( BEL) – tennis Paula Creamer ( USA) – golf	[32] [33]
2012		Darren Clarke	GBR	Golf	Crusaders ( NZL) – rugby union Eric Abidal ( FRA) – football Queensland Reds ( AUS) – rugby union Liu Xiang ( CHN) – athletics Sergio García ( ESP) – golf	[34] [35]
2013		Félix Sánchez	DOM	Athletics	Anna Meares ( AUS) – cycling Ernie Els ( RSA) – golf Europe Ryder Cup Team ( Europe) – golf Germany Men's Olympic Eights Team ( GER) – rowing Tirunesh Dibaba ( ETH) – athletics	[36] [37]
2014		Rafael Nadal	ESP	Tennis	Yelena Isinbayeva ( RUS) – athletics Oracle Team USA ( USA) – sailing Tony Parker ( FRA) – basketball Ronaldinho ( BRA) – football Tiger Woods ( USA) – golf	[38] [39]
2015		Schalk Burger	RSA	Rugby union	Francesco Acerbi ( ITA) – football Diego Milito ( ARG) – football Jo Pavey ( GBR) – athletics Pierre Vaultier ( FRA) – snowboarding Oliver Wilson ( GBR) – golf	[40] [41]
2016		Dan Carter	NZL	Rugby union	Jessica Ennis-Hill ( GBR) – athletics Mick Fanning ( AUS) – surfing Michael Phelps ( USA) – swimming David Rudisha ( KEN) – athletics Lindsey Vonn ( USA) – alpine skiing	[42] [43]
2017		Michael Phelps	USA	Swimming	Ruth Beitia ( ESP) – athletics Juan Martín del Potro ( ARG) – tennis Fabienne St Louis ( MUS) – triathlon Nick Skelton ( GBR) – equestrian Aksel Lund Svindal ( NOR) – alpine skiing	[44] [45]
2018		Roger Federer	SUI	Tennis	FC Barcelona ( ESP) – football Justin Gatlin ( USA) – athletics Sally Pearson ( AUS) – athletics Valentino Rossi ( ITA) – MotoGP Chapecoense ( BRA) – football	[46] [47]
2019		Tiger Woods	USA	Golf	Vinesh Phogat ( IND) – freestyle wrestling Yuzuru Hanyu ( JPN) – figure skating Mark McMorris ( CAN) – snowboarding Lindsey Vonn ( USA) – alpine skiing Bibian Mentel-Spee ( NED) – para-snowboarding	[48] [49]
2020		Sophia Flörsch	GER	Auto racing	Andy Murray ( GBR) – tennis Christian Lealiifano ( AUS) – rugby union Kawhi Leonard ( USA) – basketball Liverpool F.C. ( GBR) – football Nathan Adrian ( USA) – swimming	[50] [51]
2021	–	Max Parrot	CAN	Snowboarding	Daniel Bard ( USA) – baseball Kento Momota ( JPN) – badminton Alex Morgan ( USA) – football Mikaela Shiffrin ( USA) – alpine skiing Alex Smith ( USA) – American football	[52]
2022		Sky Brown	GBR	Skateboarding	Simone Biles ( USA) – gymnastics Mark Cavendish ( GBR) – cycling Tom Daley ( GBR) – diving Marc Márquez ( ESP) – MotoGP Annemiek van Vleuten ( NED) – cycling	[53] [54]
2023		Christian Eriksen	DEN	Football	Annemiek van Vleuten ( NLD) – cycling Francesco Bagnaia ( ITA) – MotoGP Jakob Ingebrigtsen ( NOR) – athletics Klay Thompson ( USA) – basketball Tiger Woods ( USA) – golf	[55]
2024		Simone Biles	USA	Gymnastics	Katarina Johnson-Thompson ( GBR) – athletics Siya Kolisi ( RSA) – rugby sevens Sébastien Haller ( CIV) – association football Jamal Murray ( CAN) – basketball Marketa Vondrousova ( CZE) – tennis	[56]
2025		Rebeca Andrade	BRA	Gymnastics	Caeleb Dressel ( USA) – swimming Lara Gut-Behrami (  SUI) – alpine skiing Marc Márquez ( ESP) – MotoGP Rishabh Pant ( IND) – cricket Ariarne Titmus ( AUS) – swimming	[57]

Statistics

Statistics are correct as of 2025 awards.

Winners by nationality Country Winners Nominations USA 5 34 GBR 3 14 BRA 2 3 ITA 2 3   SUI 2 0 GER 1 5 ESP 1 5 CAN 1 4 CRO 1 3 BEL 1 2 NZL 1 2 RSA 1 2 AUT 1 1 DOM 1 0 UKR 1 0 DEN 1 0 AUS 0 10 FRA 0 5 NED 0 4 SWE 0 4 JPN 0 3 ARG 0 2 ENG 0 2 IND 0 2 CHN 0 1 CIV 0 1 CZE 0 1 ETH 0 1 Europe 0 1 KEN 0 1 MUS 0 1 NOR 0 1 RUS 0 1 SCO 0 1 SLO 0 1   SUI 0 1

Winners by sport Sport Winners Nominations Tennis 8 8 Athletics 2 20 Golf 2 16 Football 2 9 Rugby union 2 5 Gymnastics 2 2 Alpine skiing 1 9 Swimming 1 8 MotoGP 1 3 Auto racing 1 2 Snowboarding 1 2 Boxing 1 1 Skateboarding 1 1 Basketball 0 4 Cycling 0 4 American football 0 3 Cricket 0 3 Ice hockey 0 3 Badminton 0 1 Baseball 0 1 Diving 0 1 Figure skating 0 1 Freestyle wrestling 0 1 Judo 0 1 Para-snowboarding 0 1 Rowing 0 1 Rugby league 0 1 Sailing 0 1 Surfing 0 1 Triathlon 0 1 Weightlifting 0 1

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