The 2023 Laureus World Sports Awards was held in the beautiful capital of France. Jamaica’s Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, the world’s 100-meter champion, was awarded Laureus World Sportswoman of the Year in Paris. According to World Athletics, all eight award recipients were in Paris to commemorate a remarkable sports year.
The Laureus World Sports Academy’s athletic luminaries, past Laureus Award recipients, and some of the best athletes in the world reportedly joined them during a magnificent event held at the Pavillon Vendome.
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Thirteen years after winning her first 100-meter gold, Fraser-Pryce set a record at the World Athletics Championships in Oregon22, according to World Athletics.
The World Athletics stated, “She has more world sprint titles than any other athlete, and in 2022 she ran sub-10.7 for 100m seven times, three more than the previous best for a female sprinter in a calendar year.”
The organization added, “Whether the benchmark is speed, consistency or longevity, nobody came close to Jamaica’s ‘Pocket Rocket’. And after her sixth nomination for the Laureus World Sportswoman of the Year Award, this is her first win.”
The 100-meter champion remarked, “I was thrilled to be nominated alongside such inspiring women athletes, and to win this award, voted for by some of the greatest sportsmen and women of all time, is just amazing.”
She added, “This is the sixth time I’ve been nominated in this category, so to finally hold the Laureus statuette in my hands is one of the greatest honors of my career.
“When athletes have the spotlight, it’s important the example we set is the best it can be,” she added. “We have a responsibility to influence the next generation in a positive way and that’s what the Laureus Awards are all about.”
Popular known Football (soccer) super talent Lionel Messi received the Laureus World Sportsman award, according to World Athletic.
According to World Athletics, the Laureus World Sports Awards nominations are chosen by the international media, and the 71 members of the Laureus World Sports Academy—legendary athletes from the last 5 decades of athletic excellence—vote on the winners.
The World Athletics noted, “The 2023 Laureus World Sports Awards celebrated the best athletes of 2022 and some of the greatest of all time, and was also a celebration of the mission Laureus has held since 2000 when Laureus’ first patron Nelson Mandela spoke at the first iteration of this event and said: ‘Sport has the power to change the world. It has the power to inspire. It has the power to unite people in a way that little else does.’”
The organization concluded, “This has become the driving force behind everything that Laureus does.”
