Skip to content
Curated playlist

Laureus World Sports Awards winners

  • Dirk NowitzkiDirk Nowitzki hit a winning Finals basket while carrying a 101-degree fever.
  • Spain national football teamThe Spain national football team, known in Spanish as the Selección Española de Fútbol, won its first major title in 1964 and then waited 44 years for a second. That gap makes what came next hard to believe. The Royal Spanish Football…
  • Germany national football teamIn the 2014 World Cup semi-final, Germany scored four goals against Brazil in under seven minutes. They won 7-1.
  • Lionel MessiLionel Messi's first Barcelona contract was written on a paper napkin. He was 13 at the time.
  • France national football teamLucien Laurent scored the first goal in World Cup history for France in 1930.
  • Lewis HamiltonSir Lewis Hamilton was ten years old when he walked up to Ron Dennis, boss of the McLaren Formula One team, at the Autosport Awards. He asked for an autograph, and he came with an announcement. "Hi. I'm Lewis Hamilton. I won the British…
  • Patrick MahomesPatrick Mahomes stood in the huddle of the Kansas City Chiefs with a little over seven minutes left in Super Bowl LIV. His team trailed the San Francisco 49ers 20-10. A challenge by San Francisco had just erased a completed catch, leaving…
  • Tom BradyTom Brady was once drafted by the Montreal Expos as a catcher. He chose football at Michigan instead.
  • Argentina national football teamArgentina's first international match ended in a 6-0 win over Uruguay. It was the first for both teams, in 1902.
  • Italy national football teamItaly's football team held the World Cup trophy for twelve years because of a war.
  • Ronaldo (Brazilian footballer)Hours before the 1998 World Cup final, Ronaldo suffered a convulsive fit. He was dropped, then reinstated.
  • Serena WilliamsSerena Williams won the 2017 Australian Open while already pregnant. She did not yet know it.
  • Roger FedererOn the 15th of September 2022, Roger Federer announced that the Laver Cup would be his final event on the ATP Tour. His farewell was a three-set doubles loss, played beside his old rival Rafael Nadal against Jack Sock and Frances Tiafoe.…
  • Arnold SchwarzeneggerArnold Schwarzenegger broke into a locked gym on weekends as a teenager. He later became California's governor.
  • Tiger WoodsTiger Woods won the 1997 Masters by twelve strokes, and the margin was only the beginning of what made that week strange. On the 13th of April 1997 he finished 18 under par with a total of 270, leaving runner-up Tom Kite far behind. Woods…
  • Rafael NadalRafael Nadal turned 19 on the 3rd of June 2005, and he spent the day beating Roger Federer in the semi-final of the French Open. Federer lost to only four players during that entire year. Nadal was one of them. Nadal had been born in 1986…
  • Zinedine ZidaneZinedine Zidane scored two headers from corners in the 1998 World Cup Final. France beat Brazil 3-0 in Paris.
  • Dikembe MutomboDikembe Mutombo came to Georgetown to become a doctor, not a basketball star. A coach changed those plans entirely.
  • Simone BilesA day-care field trip first brought six-year-old Simone Biles into a gymnastics gym. She now has 11 Olympic medals.
  • Novak DjokovicNovak Djokovic walked onto the courts of Roland Garros on the 4th of August 2024 needing one prize his collection lacked, an Olympic gold medal. Across the net in the final stood Carlos Alcaraz. Neither man was broken on serve through two…
  • PeléAt 17, Pelé passed out on the field after scoring twice in the 1958 World Cup final. His teammate Garrincha revived him.
  • Yao MingYao Ming scored the first basket of China's home Olympics in 2008, a three-pointer.
  • Mohamed SalahMohamed Salah walked off the pitch in tears during the 2018 Champions League final. In the 30th minute against Real Madrid, a challenge from the defender Sergio Ramos wrenched his left shoulder. He tried to carry on, went to the ground a…
  • Franz BeckenbauerFranz Beckenbauer won the World Cup as a captain, then again as a manager.
  • Arsène WengerArsène Wenger led Arsenal through a whole league season without a defeat in 2003-04.
  • Billie Jean KingBillie Jean King beat 55-year-old Bobby Riggs in straight sets in 1973. He had claimed women's tennis was too weak.
  • Robert LewandowskiRobert Lewandowski walked on as a Bayern Munich substitute on the 22nd of September 2015, with his team trailing Wolfsburg 1-0. Eight minutes and 59 seconds later, he had scored five goals and Bayern led 5-1. Three of those goals fell…

Queue