The Spanish tennis player Carlos Alcaraz and the Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka were awarded this Monday in Madrid as the best athletes of the last year at the Laureus 2026 gala, which also recognized PSG, the Englishman Lando Norris – Formula One world champion – as a revelation, and the Brazilian Paralympic swimmer Gabriel Araújo.
Northern Irish golfer Rory McIlroy was added to the list of awards at the Madrid City Council, venue for the third consecutive time, as a comeback for his title in the Masters after eleven years; the American snowboard champion Chloe Kim, as an action athlete, and the Fútbol Más initiative, emerged in Chile and implemented in 11 countries, with the social change award for its work to promote inclusion through sport.
The legendary athlete award, which he received a year ago Rafa Nadal, went to the Laureus ambassador Nadia Comaneci, and the foundation also awarded two newly created awards to the Barcelona player Lamine Yamal, as a young athlete, and the former German Real Madrid soccer player Toni Kroos, as an inspiration for his foundation to help sick children and his soccer school.
“Winning two ‘Grand Slams’ and being number one in the world is what I dreamed of since I was little, but I think about the difficult moments and everything I have learned, that is why this award is so emotional for me. It has been received by athletes who have inspired me and to be able to say that my name is part of this is a dream,” said Alcaraz, the first of the winners to take the stage.
The Murcian, with a splint on his right wrist due to the injury suffered in Barcelona that will prevent him from playing this week in Madrid, received his award from the hands of Iker Casillas and Luis Figo, after sending a message of recognition to the other candidates, among them the Italian Jannik Sinner, present at the gala, which recently deprived him of continuing as number one in the world.
Lamine Yamal, who a year ago won the award as a revelation, repeated the new distinction to the young athlete, which was presented to him by former players and now Laureus ambassadors Ruud Gullit and Cafu, before Novak Djokovic, now presenter along with Chinese skier Eileen Gu, invited Kroos to receive his award.
“The most important thing is that I have not won this award for playing in the best team in the world, but for what has happened off the field. Things are getting worse and worse in the world and if together we defend the right values for peace, unite the generations and give the right values, we can take a big step forward,” claimed Kroos.
Kroos’ message revived Nelson Mandela’s statement at the first Laureus in 2002: “sport has the power to change the world”, always present in a ceremony that brought the guests to their feet before the Brazilian swimmer Gabriel Araújo, awarded as an athlete with a disability, winner of three world golds and world record holder of 1,500, before Aryna Sabalenka admitted “to be shaking” at being recognized as the best athlete.
“In all sports there are inspiring women who also deserve this award,” thanked the Belarusian at the end of a gala in which Simone Biles introduced the presentation of the legend award to Nadia Comaneci. “When I had to do the bar exercises I didn’t shake as much as I do now. What a surprise you gave me,” said the first gymnast to get a 10, who received the award from her husband Bart Conner, excitedly, and recognized that sport was what changed her life.