[Laureus Website]
Information from Laureus website follows –
Stars of sport to unite in Madrid for 2025 Laureus World Sports Awards
As the 25th anniversary Laureus World Sports Awards approach, a host of the biggest names in sport – including Nominees for this year’s Awards, past winners and all-time legends – are confirmed for ‘The Athletes’ Awards’ in Madrid this month.Last year’s Laureus World Sportsman of the Year, Novak Djokovic, will be in attendance, along with Nominees for this year’s Award including four-time tennis Grand Slam champion Carlos Alcaraz and Mondo Duplantis, the pole vaulter who was one of the stars of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. The two biggest names from the world of gymnastics – 2024 Olympic champions Simone Biles and Rebeca Andrade – will be there, as will the women’s tennis World No.1 Aryna Sabalenka.
The most prestigious honours event on the sporting calendar is back for a second successive year at the iconic Palacio de Cibeles in the Spanish capital, with the world’s best sportsmen and women competing for The Laureus, the statuette which signifies the ultimate recognition from the world of elite sport – athletes are nominated by a panel of global media and the winners decided by the 69 sporting legends of the Laureus World Sports Academy.The Awards show takes place on Monday, April 21, and will be broadcast globally. The landmark show will be hosted by Hollywood actor Matthew Goode – star of Downton Abbey, The Watchmen and The Imitation Game, who follows acting royalty such as Morgan Freeman, Hugh Grant and Andy Garcia as host of the Laureus Awards.
He said: “The best athletes in the world are coming to Madrid for the 25th anniversary Laureus World Sports Awards – but I’m not sure any of them will be as excited as I am to be a part of the greatest show in sports.“The sportswomen and men we will celebrate and honour do not need a script and they do not wait for direction. The stars of our show wrote their own stories in 2024.”
Among the stars who will be in Madrid are two Nominees for the Laureus World Sportsman of the Year Award – and Djokovic, the man who won it for a record-equalling fifth time last year. Duplantis is nominated after an incredible 2024 in which he won Olympic gold in Paris and broke his own world record twice, while Carlos Alcaraz claimed the French Open and Wimbledon to take his Grand Slam total to four.Carlos Alcaraz said: “I am delighted to be shortlisted again for these prestigious Awards. I have great memories of picking up my Statuette for Breakthrough of the Year in Paris in 2023 – and of meeting Messi on the red carpet! I was privileged to attend last year in Madrid and present Jude Bellingham with his Breakthrough trophy, so to return to the same city again this year is very exciting. 2024 was an unbelievable year for me – to win at Roland Garros and then at Wimbledon was a dream.”
Biles and Andrade are rewarded for their remarkable achievements in Paris last summer with nominations for Laureus World Sportswoman of the Year and World Comeback of the Year respectively. Sabalenka, who won the Australian and US Opens in 2024, is also nominated in the Sportswoman category.
Simone Biles said: “Receiving my first Laureus Award from Nadia Comăneci, in 2017 is still one of my most cherished memories and this event is incredibly special to me. I’m excited to be in Madrid with everyone to celebrate so many amazing achievements as well as the wonderful work that Laureus does. The Nominees in every single category are so inspiring to me and I’m extremely proud to stand alongside so many others who competed at the top of their sport in 2024.”
As the clock ticks down to the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics, a star of the slopes will be in Madrid to preview that event with global media. Eileen Gu won the 2023 Laureus World Action Sportsperson of the Year Award and will defend her two Olympic titles in freestyle skiing in Italy next year.Other Nominees who are already confirmed to walk the red carpet in Madrid include Letsile Tebogo, the Botswanan star who won the men’s 200m title – his country’s first-ever gold medal – in Paris and is nominated for Breakthrough. Comeback of the Year Nominees set to attend include swimmer Ariarne Titmus.
Nominees in the Team of the Year category represented in Madrid include Zak Brown from the McLaren Formula One Team and Robin Le Normand and Luis de la Fuente from Spain Men’s National Team. Also in Madrid will be a host of athletes shortlisted for the Laureus World Sportsperson of the Year with a Disability Award, including Spanish para swimmer Teresa Perales, para archer Matt Stutzman, para swimmer Jiang Yuyan and para badminton star Qu Zimo.
From the sporting legends among the Laureus World Sports Academy Members and Ambassadors, those attending the Awards include Rugby World Cup winner Bryan Habana; football legends Fabio Capello, Cafu, Luís Figo and Ruud Gullit; gymnastic great Nadia Comăneci, athletics heroes including Edwin Mosesand Nawal El Moutawakel, plus former Olympians Chris Hoy and Steve Redgrave. Tennis champions Boris Becker and Garbiñe Muguruza, who announced her retirement from the sport at last year’s Awards, and adventurer Annabelle Bond.
Joining Nominees and Academy Members will be sports fans from fashion, film and entertainment, plus Laureus Ambassadors including:
Athletics: Mondo Duplantis, Nawal El Moutawakel, Tegla Loroupe, Edwin Moses, Letsile Tebogo
Basketball: Rudy Fernández
Cricket: Steve Waugh
Cycling: Chris Hoy
Football: Kosovare Asllani, Cafu, Fabio Capello, Fernando Carro, Iker Casillas, Luis de la Fuente, Luís Figo, Ruud Gullit, Robin Le Normand, Rafael Louzán
Gymnastics: Rebeca Andrade, Simone Biles, Nadia Comăneci, Li Xiaopeng
Hockey: Luciana Aymar
Kayaking: Saúl Craviotto
Motor Racing: Zak Brown, Emerson Fittipaldi
Para Archery: Matt Stutzman
Para Athletics: Tanni Grey-Thompson
Para Badminton: Qu Zimo
Para Fencing: Bebe Vio
Para Swimming: Daniel Dias, Teresa Perales, Jiang Yuyan
Rowing: Steve Redgrave
Rugby: Sean Fitzpatrick (Laureus Academy Chairman), Bryan Habana, Hugo Porta
Skiing: Eileen Gu, Maria Hőfl-Riesch
Squash: Nicol David
Surfing: Kelly Slater
Swimming: Ariarne Titmus
Tennis: Carlos Alcaraz, Paula Badosa, Mansour Bahrami, Boris Becker, Belinda Bencic, Novak Djokovic,
Garbiñe Muguruza, Aryna Sabalenka, Stefanos Tsitsipas
Windsurfing: Robby Naish
In addition to celebrating the sporting success of 2025, the Laureus World Sports Awards are also a platform to showcase Laureus Sport for Good, which uses the power of sport to end violence, discrimination and inequality, showing how sport can change the world. Today Laureus supports more than 300 programmes in over 50 countries, working to transform society and improve the lives of young people. Since its inception in 2000, Laureus Sport for Good has used the power of sport to improve the lives of more than six-and-a-half million children and young adults.The impact of the Awards is a key element to both the planning and delivery of the 2025 event. Working closely with both Host Partners, Madrid City Council and the Regional Government of Madrid, Laureus will bring the expertise and support of Laureus Sport for Good to leave a lasting legacy for the young people of the city and region of Madrid.
Matthew will be playing in the Dunhill Links golf tournament at St Andrews next week!
From the Dunhill Links website –
MATTHEW GOODE
Admired British actor, he has a long list of successful films in which he has appeared including Match Point, Imagine Me & You, My Family and Other Animals, Copying Beethoven, The Lookout, Brideshead Revisited, Watchmen, A Single Man, Leap Year, Stoker and The Imitation Game.
Was a member of the cast of the popular Downton Abbey series and played Anthony Armstrong-Jones, Princess Margaret’s husband, in The Crown.
Says his best golfing moment was partnering Danny Willett in the 2010 Championship and playing with Martin Kaymer, the eventual winner, in the final group.
This is the eighth time he has played. Says he once hit the ball straight right at the 18th and it bounced on the road and onto a building before ricocheting on to the green.
https://www.alfreddunhilllinks.com/player/matthew-goode/
[Pic – Ross Kinnaird]
Matthew was a guest on ITV’s ‘This Morning’ today – talking about ‘The Offer, going on a family holiday to Greece soon and his next project, working with Anthony Hopkins. Goode fans have deduced that this is ‘Freuds Last Session’ which starts filming in October.
Available on catch up on the ITV Hub.
Red Carpet TV have shared some footage of Matthew and Sophie at the Top Gun London premiere last week –
I just uploaded “Matthew Goode at Top Gun Maverick, Royal Film Premiere, London” to #Vimeo: https://t.co/Qrwz1ZMRBY
— RedCarpet Television (@redcarpettv) May 23, 2022
Source: @redcarpettv Twitter
Matthew and his wife, Sophie, attended the London Premiere of the new Top Gun movie that stars Miles Teller on Thursday night [May 19th]
A few fans were lucky to get pictures and selfies –
? Eden Ristow (Film Oracle) Twitter.
? lupusinfabulauk Instagram
? ames @jakegyllenhaaal Twitter. NB – Image is flipped!
[Pics – all David Benett/getty Thanks to diddleyeye_nat on Instagram for finding these and sharing.]
More pictures of Matthew and Sophie attending Wimbledon on the 9th July have been added to the image gallery. Thank you to Goode fans @alyssa-ty, @surana17, @teach463146 and @ouroborosandashrike on tumblr for collecting these! There are a few more to be added later.
