SportAccord and GAISF President Raffaele Chiulli started the week with a celebration of 2019’s groundbreaking year of sporting achievements as he attended the 20th Anniversary of the Laureus World Sports Awards in Berlin, Germany.
The annual award ceremony saw some of the biggest names in sports attending, with eight Laureus statuette’s on offer in a variety of categories, along with several discretionary awards. The event supports the work of the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation which harnesses the power of sport to transform lives through programmes in over 40 countries, and for many GAISF Members it is a testament to how their sports bring joy to so many around the world.
GAISF President Raffaele Chiulli said:
“It was such a privilege to attend the awards ceremony and see so many inspirational male and female athletes and teams from such a wide-variety of sports be rewarded for their achievements.
“GAISF Members work tirelessly to promote participation in sports which can have both physical and mental benefits, and an event such as this not only celebrates pinnacles of sporting achievement, but just as importantly it amplifies the ability of sport to support communities, to educate, and to unite us all.”
FIFA’s Lionel Messi and FIA’s Lewis Hamilton jointly picked up the Laureus World Sportsman of the Year award, while FIG’s Simone Biles added her third women’s title. Sitting atop the global podium after winning World Rugby’s largest event, the Rugby World Cup 2019, the South Africa men’s team took the World Team of the Year award.
Colombian cyclist, Egan Bernal, who won the 2019 Tour de France and rides for UCI WorldTeam Ineos scooped up a well-deserved World Breakthrough award. Meanwhile FIA’s formula three driver Sophia Floersch was presented with the World Comeback award after returning to the racetrack just 105 days after suffering a horrific crash which required extensive surgery to repair a fractured spine.
Perhaps the most uplifting of all the awards available is the Laureus Sport for Good award which is given to an organisation or individual who have used sport to influence positive social change. This year the award went to South Bronx United, a programme in New York which uses football as a vehicle to teach the city’s disadvantaged youth character-building traits such as teamwork and leadership, while simultaneously helping to transform their futures.
To see all the winners from the Laureus World Sports Awards 2020 please click here.
Tribute to Kobe Bryant
Alessandro Del Piero – Italian Football World Champion
Marcos Cafù – Brazilian Football World Champion
Boris Becker – German Tennis Champion
Tony Hawke – American Skater Champion
