Simone Biles, Mondo Duplantis win big at 25th Laureus World Sports Awards

CNN
 — 

Paris Olympians and Paralympians were the big winners of the 25th anniversary Laureus World Sports Awards in Madrid, including superstars Simone Biles and Armand ‘Mondo’ Duplantis.

The Laureus Awards, co-hosted this year by CNN Sports’ Amanda Davies, honor sports’ biggest athletes and those using sport for good. And this edition of the awards were bigger than ever as Laureus celebrated 25 years of athletic feats.

Biles, the most decorated gymnast of all time, received her fourth Sportswoman of the Year Award after adding three golds and a silver medal to her resume at her third Olympics this past summer. The American tied tennis legend Serena Williams as the only athletes to receive the Sportswoman of the Year award four times.

“I won this Award for the first time in 2017 and Laureus has been a part of my story since then, and I share their belief that sport has the power to change the world,” Biles said of her record night.

“That might be a little girl watching someone like me on television and deciding she can do it, too. Or it could be the incredible work Laureus Sport for Good has undertaken for the past 25 years, all over the world.”

Swedish poler-vaulter Duplantis became only the second track-and-field athlete, after four-time winner Usain Bolt, to receive the Sportsman of the Year award. The 25-year-old broke his own world record to secure his second Olympic gold medal and become the first men’s pole vaulter to win back-to-back golds since Bob Richards in 1956.

“The Laureus Awards are the ultimate awards that we athletes want to win. I know because this is the fourth time I have been nominated – and that proves it’s harder to win a Laureus than an Olympic gold medal!” Duplantis joked.

“I’m following in the footsteps of giants like Novak (Djokovic), Usain, Rafael Nadal and Lionel Messi. The list of past winners of this Award is like a history of sporting greatness over the past 25 years.”

Other highlights of the event in Madrid included Biles’ friend and rival Rebeca Andrade winning the Comeback of the Year Award. The Brazilian considered quitting the sport after suffering her third ACL tear in four years. However, she came back and competed in her third Olympics in Paris – earning a gold, two silvers and a bronze – to become the most decorated Brazilian Olympian of all time. Her gold medal moment led to one of the most iconic photos of the Olympics, with Simone Biles and Jordan Chiles bowing down to Andrade on the podium.

“Individual sports can be isolating, but Paris showed that camaraderie can exist between competitors, and I was so proud to compete alongside last year’s winner of this Award, Simone Biles,” Andrade said after the win.

“Simone and I are the only two gymnasts to win a Laureus Award and I hope our stories can inspire anyone who has experienced injuries and setbacks to keep fighting through the many obstacles placed in front of them on the long road to recovery.”

Later on, despite Real Madrid coming away winners of the Team of the Year award, it was rival Barcelona’s teen phenom Lamine Yamal who received the Breakthrough of the Year Award.

At only 16 years old, the Spaniard became the youngest player and goalscorer in European Championship history. He then rang in his birthday by becoming the youngest to play in a Euros final the day after turning 17.

The Laureus Awards are not just about honoring the biggest athletes, but those who are using sport to make positive changes in society. This year’s Sport for Good Award went to Kick4Life, an organization started in 2005 focused on using football to reach at-risk youth in Lesotho.

All in all, it was a massive evening to celebrate sport with the world’s biggest athletes and sport gamechangers present in Madrid.