Jamaican Olympian Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce nominated for Laureus Awards
Jamaican Olympian Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, Mondo Duplantis and Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone have been nominated for Sportsman and Sportswoman of the Year honors in this year’s Laureus World Sport Awards, World Athletics said on Monday.
For Jamaican sprint sensation Fraser-Pryce, last year featured a fifth world 100m title win, while a world-leading 10.62 was among her record seven sub-10.70 100m races of the season, World Athletics said.
It said Duplantis and McLaughlin-Levrone were named World Athletes of the Year in December, while Fraser-Pryce was among the finalists for Women’s World Athlete of the Year.
“I would like to thank the world’s sports media for this special nomination,” said Fraser-Pryce. “This is my sixth nomination for the Laureus World Sportswoman of the Year Award, and it is a great honor.
“I continue to be inspired by the wider Laureus movement and initiatives in celebrating the power of sports to change the world, which further makes the nomination special,” she added.
Swedish pole vault star Duplantis set three world records in 2022, a year in which he claimed two global titles, won 18 of his 19 competitions, and vaulted six metres or higher 23 times, World Athletics said.
It said his highest clearance so far, 6.21m, came at the World Athletics Championships Oregon22.
World Athlete of the year, Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone. Photo by World Athletics
World Athletics said US 400m hurdles ace McLaughlin-Levrone also broke the world record in her event, twice.
The second of those record-breaking performances, where she ran an “awe-inspiring” 50.68, secured her a first individual senior world title in Oregon, and she followed it by anchoring the US team to another 4x400m victory, World Athletics said.
It said six nominees have been selected in seven of the nominated Laureus categories, with five programs shortlisted for the Laureus Sport for Good Award.
Nigeria’s Tobi Amusan, who broke the world 100m hurdles record at the World Athletics Championships, where she went on to win gold, is nominated for the Laureus World Breakthrough of the Year Award, World Athletics said.
It said Norway’s Jakob Ingebrigtsen is nominated for Laureus World Comeback of the Year after he was beaten to the world 1500m title by Jake Wightman in Oregon but rebounded to win 5000m gold.
World Athletics said the winners will be revealed in the coming months, following a vote by the Laureus World Sports Academy, comprising 71 sporting legends.
