Simone Biles and Mondo Duplantis win at Laureus Awards 2024

Simone Biles and Mondo Duplantis win at Laureus Awards 2024

The Olympians and Paralympians from Paris were the big winners at the 25th Laureus World Sports Awards held in Madrid. The superstars were among the celebrated athletes Simone Biles and Armand ‘Mondo’ Duplantis.

A celebration of athletes and a good cause

The Laureus Awards, presented this year by Amanda Davies hosted by CNN Sports, honor the world's greatest athletes and the people who use sport to bring positive change. This edition of the awards was bigger than ever as Laureus celebrated 25 years of sporting excellence.

Simone Biles – A record evening

Biles, the most decorated gymnast of all time, received her fourth Female Athlete of the Year award after adding three gold and one silver medals in her third appearance at the Olympics this summer. This makes her a tennis legend Serena Williams the only female athlete to have won this award four times.

"I won this award for the first time in 2017 and Laureus has been part of my story ever since. I believe that sport has the power to change the world," Biles said of her record-breaking evening. "It could be a little girl who sees someone like me on TV and decides she can do it too. Or it could be the fantastic work that Laureus Sport for Good has been doing around the world for 25 years."

Armand ‘Mondo’ Duplantis – Another triumph

The Swedish pole vaulter Duplantis became the first second Track and field athlete, after four-time winner Usain Bolt, who received the title of Sportsman of the Year. The 25-year-old set his own world record, secured his second Olympic gold medal and became the first pole vaulter to win consecutive gold medals since Bob Richards in 1956.

"The Laureus Awards are the ultimate prizes that we as athletes want to win. I know this because this is my fourth time being nominated - and that proves that winning a Laureus is harder than winning an Olympic gold medal!" Duplantis joked. "I am following in the footsteps of greats like Novak (Djokovic), Usain, Rafael Nadal and Lionel Messi. The list of previous winners of this award is like a history of sporting greatness over the last 25 years."

More impressive winners

Other highlights of the event in Madrid included Biles' friend and rival Rebeca Andrade being awarded Comeback of the Year. The Brazilian had considered quitting the sport after suffering triple cruciate ligament injuries in four years. But she fought back and competed in her third Olympic Games in Paris, where she won one gold and two silver medals, as well as a bronze medal - becoming Brazil's most decorated Olympian of all time. Their moment of victory led to one of the most iconic photos the Olympics, as Simone Biles and Jordan Chiles Andrade fell to their knees on the podium.

"Individual sports can be isolating, but Paris showed that camaraderie can also exist between competitors. I was so proud to compete alongside last year's winner of this award, Simone Biles," Andrade said after her win. “Simone and I are the only two gymnasts to have won a Laureus Award and I hope our stories can inspire anyone who has experienced injuries and setbacks to keep fighting.”

The sporting future in view

Later, despite Real Madrid winning the Team of the Year award, Barça talent Lamine Yamal received the Breakthrough of the Year award. The only 16-year-old became the youngest Player and goalscorer in the history of the European Championship. He celebrated his birthday by becoming the youngest person to take part in a European Championship final, just a day after his 17th birthday.

However, the Laureus Awards exist not only to honor the greatest athletes, but also those who use sport to make positive change in society. This year the Sport for Good Causes award went up Kick4Life, an organization founded in 2005 that uses football to reach at-risk youth in Lesotho.

Overall, it was a spectacular evening celebrating sport with the world's greatest athletes and sport changers in attendance in Madrid.

Full list of Laureus World Sports Awards winners

• Sportler des Jahres: Mondo Duplantis
• Sportlerin des Jahres: Simone Biles
• Team des Jahres: Real Madrid
• Durchbruch des Jahres: Lamine Yamal
• Comeback des Jahres: Rebeca Andrade
• Sportler des Jahres mit Behinderung: Jiang Yuyan
• Action-Sportler des Jahres: Tom Pidcock
• Sport für gute Zwecke Award: Kick4Life
• Sportikone Award: Rafael Nadal
• Ehrenpreis für langjährige Leistungen: Kelly Slater