Lionel Messi and Lewis Hamilton each made more history in Berlin on Monday. They were the first-ever recipients to jointly be awarded the Laureus World Sportsman of the Year Award.
Also for the first time, one of them was a member of a team, not a competitor in an individual sport like tennis or golf.
Messi, FC Barcelona’s ace soccer striker is that man. And Hamilton, the sports star he shared the award with, is the 2019 Formula One motor racing champion. The two were voted in ahead of Rafael Nadal, Marc Marquez, Tiger Woods and Eliud Kipchoge.
The 32-year-old Argentine spearheaded Barcelona to their 26th LaLiga (Spanish) title last season with 36 goals in 34 appearances. In the meantime England’s 35-year-old Hamilton, driving for Mercedes, was crowned 2019 World Champion for the sixth time.
Hamilton, now second only to the legendary Michael Schumacher with his number of F1 championship wins, received his trophy in person.
Sporting commitments prevented Messi from being in Berlin to receive his historic award but he did send a video message.
“I would like to thank the Academy for giving me this recognition,” he said. “For me it’s a huge delight to be part of this award and the first team player to receive it. “Of course, I would like to thank my team-mates, my family and the fans that have supported me. It’s thanks to them that this kind of individual recognition is possible.”
Simone Biles wins 3rd Sportswomen award
Gymnastics star Simone Biles was named the Laureus Sportswoman of the Year for the third time. Biles won five gold medals, including a record fifth all-around title, at the 2019 world championships in Stuttgart. That made her the World Championship’s most decorated gymnast ever with 25 medals.
“There can’t be many sportsmen or women who dominate their sports the way she has,” five-time Olympic gold medallist Nadia Comaneci said. “At just 22 she is likely to win another stack of gold medals in the Tokyo Olympics.”
The South African rugby union team, the Springboks, won the Laureus World Team of the Year Award.
Led for the first time by a black captain, Siya Kolisi, the Springboks won last year’s World Cup in Japan. It enabled them to join New Zealand as the only teams to have won the World Cup three times.
Cross-country skier Oksana Masters was handed the World Sportsperson of the Year with a Disability award.
Masters was a victim of Chernobyl
Masters, 30, was born with deformities caused by radiation from Chernobyl. Aged seven he was adopted from an orphanage in Ukraine by an American single mother.
In 2019 he won five gold medals and a silver at the World Para Nordic Skiing Championships. That included the medal for the overall World Cup title.
Incredibly, Masters also won silver medals in the road race and time trial H5 at the Para Cycling Road World Championships.
German basketball legend Dirk Nowitzki was awarded the Laureus Lifetime Achievement award. Nowitzki, who retired last year after 21 years with Dallas Mavericks, was described as “Europe’s greatest basketball player ever”
Other winners in Berlin Monday were cyclist Egan Bernal (breakthrough) and racing driver Sophia Florsch (comeback).
With ???????????????????????? World Championships and Ballon d’Ors between them, @LewisHamilton and Lionel Messi share the #Laureus20 World Sportsman of the Year award – a moment of sporting history!
Congratulations guys!#SportUnitesUs pic.twitter.com/7akYcykux2
— Laureus (@LaureusSport) February 17, 2020