Laureus World Sports Award for Sportswoman of the Year

The Laureus World Sports Award for Sportswoman of the Year is an annual award honouring the achievements of individual women from the world of sports. It was first awarded in 2000 as one of the seven constituent awards presented during the Laureus World Sports Awards.[1] The awards are presented by the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation, a global organisation involved in more than 150 charity projects supporting 500,000 young people.[4] The first ceremony was held on 25 May 2000 in Monte Carlo, at which Nelson Mandela gave the keynote speech.[5] As of 2020, a shortlist of six nominees for the award comes from a panel composed of the "world's leading sports editors, writers and broadcasters".[1] The Laureus World Sports Academy then selects the winner who is presented with a Laureus statuette, created by Cartier, at an annual awards ceremony held in various locations around the world.[6] The awards are considered highly prestigious and are frequently referred to as the sporting equivalent of "Oscars".[7][8][9]

Laureus World Sports Award for Sportswoman of the Year
Awarded for	"the most remarkable women from the world of sport along with the greatest achievements fans have admired throughout the year."[1]
Location	Berlin (2020)[2]
Presented by	Laureus Sport for Good Foundation
First awarded	2000
Currently held by	Simone Biles (USA)[3]
Website	Official website

The inaugural winner of the award was American athlete Marion Jones who, at the time of the presentation, was considered to be "the world's dominant sprinter".[7] She later admitted to having taken performance-enhancing drugs and, along with being stripped of her Olympic medals by the International Olympic Committee in 2007,[10] her Laureus Award and nominations (2001 and 2003) were rescinded.[11] The 2020 winner of the Laureus World Sports Award for Sportswoman of the Year was the American gymnast Simone Biles who has won the award three times in four years. Sportswomen from athletics are the most successful overall, with eight wins and thirty-one nominations (excluding Jones' rescissions). American sportswomen have won more awards and nominations than any other nationality, with ten wins and twenty-nine nominations.

List of winners and nominees

Key

*	Indicates individual whose award or nomination was later rescinded

Year	Image	Winner	Nationality	Sport	Nominees	Ref(s)
2000		Marion Jones*	USA	Athletics	Lindsay Davenport ( USA) – tennis Gabriela Szabo ( ROM) – athletics	[11][12]
2001		Cathy Freeman	AUS	Athletics	Inge de Bruijn ( NED) – swimming Marion Jones* ( USA) – athletics Karrie Webb ( AUS) – golf Venus Williams ( USA) – tennis	[13][14]
2002		Jennifer Capriati	USA	Tennis	Inge de Bruijn ( NED) – swimming Stacy Dragila ( USA) – athletics Annika Sörenstam ( SWE) – golf Venus Williams ( USA) – tennis	[15][16]
2003		Serena Williams	USA	Tennis	Marion Jones* ( USA) – athletics Janica Kostelić ( CRO) – alpine skiing Paula Radcliffe ( GBR) – athletics Annika Sörenstam ( SWE) – golf	[17][18]
2004		Annika Sörenstam	SWE	Golf	Inge de Bruijn ( NED) – swimming Justine Henin-Hardenne ( BEL) – tennis Maria de Lurdes Mutola ( MOZ) – athletics Paula Radcliffe ( GBR) – athletics Serena Williams ( USA) – tennis	[19][20]
2005		Kelly Holmes	GBR	Athletics	Yelena Isinbayeva ( RUS) – athletics Carolina Klüft ( SWE) – athletics Maria Sharapova ( RUS) – tennis Annika Sörenstam ( SWE) – golf Leontien Zijlaard-Van Moorsel ( NED) – cycling	[21][22]
2006		Janica Kostelić	CRO	Alpine skiing	Kim Clijsters ( BEL) – tennis Tirunesh Dibaba ( ETH) – athletics Yelena Isinbayeva ( RUS) – athletics Carolina Klüft ( SWE) – athletics Paula Radcliffe ( GBR) – athletics Annika Sörenstam ( SWE) – golf	[23][24]
2007		Yelena Isinbayeva	RUS	Athletics	Justine Henin ( BEL) – tennis Carolina Klüft ( SWE) – athletics Laure Manaudou ( FRA) – swimming Amélie Mauresmo ( FRA) – tennis Maria Sharapova ( RUS) – tennis	[25][26]
2008		Justine Henin	BEL	Tennis	Yelena Isinbayeva ( RUS) – athletics Carolina Klüft ( SWE) – athletics Libby Lenton ( AUS) – swimming Marta ( BRA) – football Lorena Ochoa ( MEX) – golf	[27][28]
2009		Yelena Isinbayeva	RUS	Athletics	Tirunesh Dibaba ( ETH) – athletics Lorena Ochoa ( MEX) – golf Stephanie Rice ( AUS)– swimming Lindsey Vonn ( USA) – alpine skiing Venus Williams ( USA) – tennis	[29][30]
2010		Serena Williams	USA	Tennis	Shelly-Ann Fraser ( JAM) – athletics Federica Pellegrini ( ITA) – swimming Sanya Richards ( USA) – athletics Britta Steffen ( GER) – swimming Lindsey Vonn ( USA) – alpine skiing	[18][31]
2011		Lindsey Vonn	USA	Alpine skiing	Kim Clijsters ( BEL) – tennis Jessica Ennis ( GBR) – athletics Blanka Vlašić ( CRO) – athletics Serena Williams ( USA) – tennis Caroline Wozniacki ( DEN) – tennis	[32][33]
2012		Vivian Cheruiyot	KEN	Athletics	Carmelita Jeter ( USA) – athletics Maria Höfl-Riesch ( GER) – alpine skiing Homare Sawa ( JPN) – football Petra Kvitová ( CZE) – tennis Yani Tseng ( TPE) – golf	[34][35]
2013		Jessica Ennis	GBR	Athletics	Allyson Felix ( USA) – athletics Lindsey Vonn ( USA) – alpine skiing Missy Franklin ( USA) – swimming Serena Williams ( USA) – tennis Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce ( JAM) – athletics	[36][37]
2014		Missy Franklin	USA	Swimming	Serena Williams ( USA) – tennis Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce ( JAM) – athletics Yelena Isinbayeva ( RUS) – athletics Tina Maze ( SLO) – alpine skiing Nadine Angerer ( GER) – football	[38][39]
2015		Genzebe Dibaba	ETH	Athletics	Valerie Adams ( NZL) – athletics Li Na ( CHN) – tennis Tina Maze ( SLO) – alpine skiing Serena Williams ( USA) – tennis Marit Bjørgen ( NOR) – Nordic skiing	[40][41]
2016		Serena Williams	USA	Tennis	Genzebe Dibaba ( ETH) – athletics Anna Fenninger ( AUT) – alpine skiing Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce ( JAM) – athletics Katie Ledecky ( USA) – swimming Carli Lloyd ( USA) – football	[18][42]
2017		Simone Biles	USA	Gymnastics	Allyson Felix ( USA) – athletics Laura Kenny ( GBR) – cycling Angelique Kerber ( GER) – tennis Katie Ledecky ( USA) – swimming Elaine Thompson ( JAM) – athletics	[43][44]
2018		Serena Williams	USA	Tennis	Allyson Felix ( USA) – athletics Katie Ledecky ( USA) – swimming Garbiñe Muguruza ( ESP) – tennis Caster Semenya ( RSA) – athletics Mikaela Shiffrin ( USA) – alpine skiing	[45][46]
2019		Simone Biles	USA	Gymnastics	Simona Halep ( ROU) – tennis Angelique Kerber ( GER) – tennis Ester Ledecká ( CZE) – snowboarding Daniela Ryf (  SUI) – triathlon Mikaela Shiffrin ( USA) – skiing	[47][48][49]
2020		Simone Biles	USA	Gymnastics	Allyson Felix ( USA) – athletics Megan Rapinoe ( USA) – football Mikaela Shiffrin ( USA) – alpine skiing Naomi Osaka ( JPN) – tennis Shelly-Ann Fraser ( JAM) – athletics	[50][3]

Statistics

Statistics are correct as of 2020 ceremony.

Key

*	Indicates total(s) excluding those of individuals whose award(s) and/or nomination(s) were later rescinded

Winners by nationality Country Winners Nominations  USA 10* 29*  RUS 2 6  GBR 2 5  SWE 1 8  BEL 1 4  AUS 1 3  ETH 1 3  CRO 1 2  KEN 1 0  JAM 0 6  GER 0 5  NED 0 4  CZE 0 2  JPN 0 2  MEX 0 2  ROU 0 2  SLO 0 2  AUT 0 1  BRA 0 1  CHN 0 1  DEN 0 1  ESP 0 1  MOZ 0 1  NZL 0 1  RSA 0 1   SUI 0 1  TPE 0 1

Winners by sport Sport Winners Nominations Athletics 7* 33* Tennis 6 24 Gymnastics 3 0 Alpine skiing 2 11 Swimming 1 12 Golf 1 8 Football 0 5 Cycling 0 2 Nordic skiing 0 1 Snowboarding 0 1 Triathlon 0 1

Multiple winners and nominees Name Wins Nominations Serena Williams 4 5 Simone Biles 3 0 Yelena Isinbayeva 2 4 Annika Sörenstam 1 4 Lindsey Vonn 1 3 Justine Henin 1 2 Janica Kostelić 1 1 Jessica Ennis 1 1 Genzebe Dibaba 1 1 Missy Franklin 1 1 Cathy Freeman 1 0 Jennifer Capriati 1 0 Kelly Holmes 1 0 Vivian Cheruiyot 1 0 Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce 0 5 Carolina Klüft 0 4 Allyson Felix 0 4 Venus Williams 0 3 Inge de Bruijn 0 3 Katie Ledecky 0 3 Paula Radcliffe 0 3 Mikaela Shiffrin 0 3 Maria Sharapova 0 2 Kim Clijsters 0 2 Tirunesh Dibaba 0 2 Lorena Ochoa 0 2 Tina Maze 0 2 Angelique Kerber 0 2

See also

• List of sports awards honoring women
• Laureus World Sports Award for Sportsman of the Year
• Athlete of the Year

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