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[ODDS and EVENS] Laureus World Sports Awards a Celebration of Great Achievements
Twenty-five years after the first Laureus World Sports Awards, Japanese athletes Yuto Horigome and Tokito Oda are among 2025's nominees.
For sports fans, debating who deserves to win awards is a fun pastime. It can also spark heated discussions, generating greater interest in athletes and teams, leagues and competitions.
When an awards banquet reaches its quarter century anniversary, a significant amount of history has already been celebrated and chronicled. Such is the case with the Laureus World Sports Awards, which was first staged in May 2000 in Monte Carlo.
The Laureus Sport for Good Foundation is preparing for the 2025 extravaganza ― to be held April 21 in Madrid. It has recently unveiled a compelling collection of nominees, highlighting successes in 2024.
This year's categories:
- Laureus World Sportsman of the Year (for brevity I've dropped "Laureus World" from the official title of the others),
- Sportswoman of the Year,
- Team of the Year,
- Action Sportsperson of the Year,
- Comeback of the Year,
- Breakthrough of the Year,
- Sportsperson of the Year with a Disability, and
- Sport for Good Award.
Four-time Grand Slam singles winner Naomi Osaka was the first Japanese recipient of a Laureus award. The tennis player received the 2019 World Breakthrough of the Year accolade. And two years later, she collected the World Sportswoman of the Year honor.
Horigome Among the Action Sportsperson of the Year Nominees
In 2021, Yuto Horigome captured the gold medal at the pandemic-delayed Tokyo Games in the first Olympic men's street skateboarding competition. His repeat triumph in the increasingly popular spectacle at the Paris Olympics in July 2024 earned Horigome a special place in the annals of the sport.
Horigome claimed his second gold with a mesmerizing display of poise under pressure. He also exhibited an awesome command of his vast arsenal of skateboard tricks ― and had a flair for the dramatic, too.
"Horigome scored a nearly perfect 97.08 points on his fifth and final trick Monday to pass Americans Jagger Eaton and Nyjah Huston and claim the gold medal," SportsLook reported.
The other nominees: Chloe Kim (United States, snowboarding), Caroline Marks (United States, surfing), Aleksandra Miroslaw (Poland, climbing), Tom Pidcock (United Kingdom, mountain biking) and Arisa Trew (Australia, skateboarding).
Oda in the Running for One of Laureus' Prestigious Awards
Teenage wheelchair tennis star Tokito Oda has already achieved a long list of accomplishments in his chosen sport, including winning four Grand Slam singles titles and reaching No 1 in the world rankings.
The Aichi Prefecture native turns 19 on May 6. Two weeks earlier, the winner of the Laureus Sportsperson of the Year with a Disability will be announced.
You can make a convincing case that Oda should win it.
For starters, remember this: Oda became the youngest winner of a Paralympic tennis singles gold medal in the French capital. In the final, he achieved the feat after surviving a match point to top world No 1 Alfie Hewett of Great Britain, winning 6-2, 4-6, 7-5.
Oda also took home a silver medal from the Paris Paralympics from the men's doubles event. His list of accomplishments in 2024 also included French Open and Australian Open singles titles.
Away from competition, Oda actively gives back to the community, too.
As the Laureus World Sports Awards website noted, "Tokito, who recovered from bone cancer when he was 9, has written two books and donated more than a thousand copies to local children."
The other nominees: Catherine Debrunner (Switzerland, para athletics), Teresa Perales (Spain, para swimming), Matt Stutzman (United States, para archery), Yuyan Jiang (China, para swimming) and Zimo Qu (China, para badminton).
A Glaring Omission From the Laureus Awards List
Five worthy candidates were selected for the 2025 World Sportsman of the Year: Carlos Alcaraz (Spain, tennis), Mondo Duplantis (Sweden, athletics), Leon Marchand (France, swimming), Tadej Pogacar (Slovenia, cycling) and Max Verstappen (Netherlands, motor racing).
But in my opinion, there either ought to be six nominees or one of them should be omitted and replaced by Shohei Ohtani.
The first 50-50 player in MLB history deserves to be a candidate for this prestigious global sports award.
RELATED:
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Author: Ed Odeven
Find Ed on JAPAN Forward's dedicated website, SportsLook. Follow his [Japan Sports Notebook] on Sundays, [Odds and Evens] during the week, and X (formerly Twitter) ＠ed_odeven.