Laureus Spirit of Sport Award
Awarded for"those individual athletes or teams who, through their remarkable success, their refusal to accept defeat or their unquestionable contribution to the enjoyment of the game"[1]
LocationBerlin (2020)[2]
Presented byLaureus Sport for Good Foundation
First awarded2005
Currently held byNot awarded[2]
WebsiteOfficial website

The Laureus Spirit of Sport Award is an award honouring "those individual athletes or teams who, through their remarkable success, their refusal to accept defeat or their unquestionable contribution to the enjoyment of the game".[1] It was first awarded in 2005 as one of the discretionary awards presented during the Laureus World Sports Awards.[3] The awards are presented by the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation, a global organisation involved in more than 150 charity projects supporting 500,000 young people.[4] The first ceremony was held on 25 May 2000 in Monte Carlo, at which Nelson Mandela gave the keynote speech.[5] The recipient is presented with a Laureus statuette, created by Cartier, at an annual awards ceremony held in various locations around the world.[6] Although the Laureus Awards ceremony is held annually, the Spirit of Sport Award is not necessarily presented every time; it is one of a number of discretionary awards that can be given by the Laureus World Sports Academy.[3] Since its establishment, no award has been made six times, in 2009, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2018 and 2020.

The inaugural winner of the Laureus Spirit of Sport Award in 2005 was the American baseball team Boston Red Sox who won their first World Series for 86 years in the 2004 Major League Baseball season. As of 2017, five teams and four individuals have received the award. One of these individuals was honoured posthumously: Dutch former footballer and coach Johan Cruyff won the accolade in 2016, having died the previous month; his award was presented to his son Jordi Cruyff by fellow Dutchman Ruud Gullit at the ceremony in Berlin.[7] No award was made in 2020;[2][8] the most recent recipient of the Laureus Spirit of Sport Award was the American alpine skier Lindsey Vonn in 2019.[9]

Recipients

Key
† Indicates posthumous award
Laureus Spirit of Sport Award recipients
Year Image Winner Nationality Sport Notes Ref
2005 Boston Red Sox with George W Bush in 2005 Boston Red Sox  USA Baseball The Red Sox swept the St. Louis Cardinals in the 2004 World Series, capturing their first championship in 86 years. [10]
2006 Valentino Rossi at the British Grand Prix in 2005 Valentino Rossi  ITA MotoGP Rossi won his fifth straight MotoGP Championship. [11]
2007 FC Barcelona in 2007 FC Barcelona  ESP Football Agreement with UNICEF to fund support to children's AIDS-related programmes, and to display charity's name on their shirts [12]
2008 Dick Pound in 2010 Dick Pound  CAN Administration President of the World Anti-Doping Agency for eight years [13]
2009 No award [14]
2010 No award [15]
2011 — European Ryder Cup Team  Europe Golf Europe retained the Ryder Cup over Team USA with a win in the final pairing. [16]
2012 No award [17]
2013 No award [18]
2014 Afghanistan national cricket team in 2010 Afghanistan national cricket team  AFG Cricket "In recognition of their swift rise in world cricket and their maiden qualification to the one-day World Cup" [19]
2015 Yao Ming in 2014 Yao Ming  CHN Basketball Huge increase in popularity of basketball in China as a result of his NBA career [20]
2016 Johan Cruyff in 2013 Johan Cruyff †  NED Football Posthumous award to "legendary" footballer and coach [21]
2017 Leicester City F.C. lifting the Premier League trophy in 2016 Leicester City F.C.  ENG Football Winning the Premier League by ten points despite being 5,000 to 1 outsiders [22]
2018 No award [8]
2019 Vonn in 2017 Lindsey Vonn  USA Alpine skiing [9]
2020 No award [2]

References

  1. ^ a b "Boston Red Sox – Spirit of Sport". Laureus. Archived from the original on 8 November 2017. Retrieved 8 November 2017.
  2. ^ a b c d Rayan, Stan (18 February 2020). "Laureus Awards 2020 Highlights: Tendulkar, Springboks win for World Cup wins; Hamilton, Messi share honours". The Hindu. Retrieved 18 February 2020.
  3. ^ a b "The awards". Laureus. Archived from the original on 18 March 2017. Retrieved 18 October 2017.
  4. ^ Snook, Ian (20 April 2016). "It's more than just an award". Taranaki Daily News. Archived from the original on 20 November 2017. Retrieved 18 October 2017 – via Stuff.co.nz.
  5. ^ Sugden, John; Tomlinson, Alan (30 April 2017). Sport and Peace-Building in Divided Societies: Playing with Enemies. Taylor and Francis. p. 163. ISBN 978-1-136-29233-0. Archived from the original on 18 October 2017.
  6. ^ "Did you know?". Laureus. Archived from the original on 18 March 2017. Retrieved 18 October 2017.
  7. ^ "Tribute to football legend Johan Cruyff". Laureus. 18 April 2016. Archived from the original on 8 November 2017. Retrieved 8 November 2017.
  8. ^ a b "The winners of the year 2018 are". Laureus. Archived from the original on 28 February 2018. Retrieved 28 February 2018.
  9. ^ a b Church, Ben (19 February 2019). "Lindsey Vonn wins Spirit of Sport award at the 'Oscars of Sport'". CNN. Retrieved 21 February 2019.
  10. ^ "Federer is Laureus sportsman of the year". The Hindu. 18 May 2005. Archived from the original on 24 October 2017. Retrieved 8 November 2017.
  11. ^ "Spirited Rossi steals show at Laureus Awards". IOL. 24 May 2006. Archived from the original on 8 November 2017. Retrieved 8 November 2017.
  12. ^ Martorell, Joana Pérez (3 April 2007). "FC Barcelona wins prestigious sports award for UNICEF partnership". UNICEF. Retrieved 6 January 2018.
  13. ^ Newton, David E. (26 November 2013). Steroids and Doping in Sports: A Reference Handbook: A Reference Handbook. ABC-CLIO. pp. 198–200. ISBN 978-1-61069-313-4. Retrieved 8 January 2018.
  14. ^ "Winners – 2009". Laureus. Archived from the original on 18 October 2015. Retrieved 7 November 2017.
  15. ^ "Winners – 2010". Laureus. Archived from the original on 9 November 2017. Retrieved 7 November 2017.
  16. ^ "Rafael Nadal and Lindsey Vonn win Laureus awards". BBC Sport. 7 February 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2017.
  17. ^ "Winners – 2012". Laureus. Archived from the original on 31 May 2012. Retrieved 7 November 2017.
  18. ^ "Winners – 2013". Laureus. Archived from the original on 16 May 2016. Retrieved 7 November 2017.
  19. ^ "Afghanistan win Laureus 'Spirit of Sport' award". ESPNcricinfo. 27 March 2014. Archived from the original on 30 May 2014. Retrieved 8 November 2017.
  20. ^ Coonan, Clifford (18 April 2015). "Laureus Sports Awards ceremony shows China's difficulties". The Irish Times. Archived from the original on 1 August 2017. Retrieved 8 November 2017.
  21. ^ "Laureus World Sports Awards 2016 Winners". Laureus. 18 April 2016. Archived from the original on 8 November 2017. Retrieved 8 November 2017.
  22. ^ "Laureus Awards 2017: Bolt, Biles, Rosberg, Atherton & Leicester among winners". BBC Sport. 14 February 2017. Archived from the original on 8 June 2017. Retrieved 18 October 2017.

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