Rayssa Leal and Filipe Toledo nominated for the Laureus Award – 02/20/2023 – Sport

Brazilians Filipe Toledo, world surfing champion, and Rayssa Leal, gold medalist at the X-Games, are among the 2023 nominees for the Laureus Award, known as “the Oscar of sport”. The award takes into account the achievements of athletes in the past year.

Filipe and Rayssa compete for the Best Action Athlete trophy. As there is no distinction between genders in this category, the two Brazilians compete with each other.

In the final list, with a total of 47 nominees, the two Brazilians appear along with other great stars of world sport such as football players Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappé, tennis players Rafael Nadal and Iga Swiatek, basketball player Stephen Curry, swimmer Katie Ledecky, sprinter Fraser-Pryce and driver Max Verstappen.

“I was delighted to be nominated, it’s a great honour. Winning the 2022 World Surfing League was a huge achievement for me and Brazil, and being nominated for the Laureus award helps underscore the incredible talent and triumph of the surfing generation Brazilian”, declared the man from São Paulo, nominated for the award for the first time.

The 27-year-old surfer won the world championship for the first time, beating fellow Brazilian Ítalo Ferreira in the dispute, after being runner-up in the previous edition.

Rayssa, in turn, remained among the stars of skateboarding after the historic Olympic silver medal at the Tokyo Games. At the age of 14, she won her first X-Games gold medal, one of the main stages of the sport, and also won the SLS (Street Skate League) Super Crown title.

The skater from Maranhão had already been a finalist for the Laureus in 2020. “I am very happy to be nominated once again. It is fantastic, and I feel honored to be alongside athletes who inspire me. I would like to thank you for giving me the opportunity to highlight the skate in Brazil. I hope that my nomination for such an important award will inspire and encourage more girls and women to practice sports”, she said.

The list has six nominees for each of the seven categories, including some collective ones. The choice of winners is made by a jury made up of 71 sports legends of all times.

See the complete list:

LAUREUS AWARD FOR BEST MALE SPORTSMAN OF THE YEAR

Steph Curry (USA) Basketball
Led Golden State Warriors to fourth NBA championship in eight years, Mondo Duplantis (Sweden) Athletics—three world records, two world titles in a dominant 2022

Kylian Mbappé (France) Football
Winner of the Golden Boot at the World Cup, he led Ligue 1 in goals and assists

Lionel Messi (Argentina) Football
Captained Argentina in the World Cup; Golden Ball for best player

Rafael Nadal (Spain) Tennis
Won two Grand Slams in 2022, bringing career record to 22 titles

Max Verstappen (Netherlands) Motorsport
Defended the Formula 1 World Championship in 2022

LAUREUS AWARD FOR BEST FEMALE SPORTSMAN OF THE YEAR

Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce (Jamaica) Athletics
Broke record by winning fifth 100 m title at World Championships

Katie Ledecky (USA) Swimming
Four gold medals at the World Aquatics Championships, setting a new record

Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone (USA) Athletics
Broke the 400 m hurdles world record

Alexia Putellas (Spain) Football
Second Ballon d’Or, captained Barcelona to a perfect victory in the Spanish league

Mikaela Shiffrin (USA) Alpine Skiing
Regained the overall title at the World Cup

Iga Świątek (Poland) Tennis
Won in France and the US to become No. 1 in the world

LAUREUS TEAM OF THE YEAR AWARD

Argentina men’s soccer team
World Cup winners after thrilling final against France

England women’s football team
Won the European Championship at home in front of a packed stadium

France Men’s Rugby National Team
Ended 12-year wait for Six Nations title with a Grand Slam

Golden State Warriors (USA) Basketball
NBA champions for the fourth time in eight years

Oracle Red Bull Racing (Austria)
Beat Mercedes after eight years to claim the constructors’ title

Real Madrid (Spain) Football
La Liga and Champions League double for the Spanish giants

LAUREUS AWARD FOR REVELATION OF THE YEAR

Carlos Alcaraz (Spain) Tennis
Conquered the first Grand Slam title in New York and reached the first place in the world ranking

Tobi Amusan (Nigeria) Athletics
World champion and new world record in the 100 m hurdles

Nathan Chen (USA) Figure Skating
Olympic gold with world record in the short program

Moroccan men’s national football team
First African nation to reach World Cup semi-finals

Elena Rybakina (Kazakhstan) Tennis
Won Wimbledon while ranked 17th in the world, his first Grand Slam title

Scottie Scheffler (USA) Golf
Winner at Augusta and runner-up at the US Open

LAUREUS RETURN OF THE YEAR AWARD

Francesco Bagnaia (Italy) Motorcycling
Overcame 91-point deficit to clinch MotoGP title

Christian Eriksen (Denmark) Football
Returned to Premier League after cardiac arrest during Euro 2020

Jakob Ingebrigtsen (Norway) Athletics
Rebounded from shock defeat in 1500m to win 5000m world title

Klay Thompson (USA) Basketball
Won NBA championship with Golden State Warriors after 30 months out due to injuries

Annemiek van Vleuten (Netherlands) Cycling
Overcame an illness to win the Tour de France Femme

Tiger Woods (USA) Golf
Returned to the Masters after a career-threatening car accident

LAUREUS AWARD FOR PARALYMPIC ATHLETE OF THE YEAR

Diede de Groot (Netherlands) Wheelchair Tennis
Won all four Grand Slams of the year

Catherine Debrunner (Switzerland) Athletics
Four world records in three days of competition

Declan Farmer (USA) Ice Hockey
Third Paralympic gold with the USA and top scorer in the tournament

Cameron Leslie (New Zealand) Swimming and Wheelchair Rugby
Gold in the pool after two years away from competitions

Oksana Masters (USA) Cross-Country Skiing
Double gold in biathlon at the Beijing Paralympics

Jesper Saltvik Pedersen (Norway) Alpine Skiing
Four golds on the tracks in China

LAUREUS AWARD FOR ACTION ATHLETE

Justine Dupont (France) Surf Big Waves
The high-stakes hunt for giant waves continued into 2022

Stephanie Gilmore (Australia) Surfing
Eighth world title for Australian hall of famer

Eileen Gu (China) Freestyle Skiing
Double gold — in big air and halfpipe — for the teen feel

Chloe Kim (USA) Snowboarding
Defended his Olympic title in the halfpipe

Rayssa Leal (Brazil) Skateboard
Gold in the Street event at the Summer X Games and World Championship

Filipe Toledo (Brazil) Surfing
Brazilian’s first world title

LAUREUS SPORT FOR GOOD AWARD

Programs selected by an expert selection panel

Boxgirls (Kenya) Boxing
Empowering young women and challenging stereotypes

High Five (Germany) Action sports
Helping migrant and orphan children integrate into new communities

Made For More (South Africa) Various sports
Making sport inclusive for people with disabilities

Slum Soccer (India) Football
Supporting homeless youth through sport and education

TeamUp Movement (Global)
Refugee children relieve stress through physical activity, supported by War Child, UNICEF and Save the Children