As Lionel Messi clinched the Sportsman of the Year award, the Sportswoman of the Year went to Jamaican sprinter Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce.
She won the women’s 100m world title at the World Athletics Championships in Oregon in July, becoming the first person to win five golds in an individual track event.
Fraser-Pryce’s 100m gold came 13 years after her first, and the 36-year-old has more world sprint titles than any other athlete.
Shelly-Ann ran a sub-10.7-seconds 100m seven times in 2022, three more than the previous best for a female sprinter in a calendar year.
“I was thrilled to be nominated alongside such inspiring women athletes, and to win this award, voted for by some of the greatest sportsmen and women of all time, is just amazing,” she said.
“This is the sixth time I’ve been nominated in this category, so to finally hold the Laureus statuette in my hands is one of the greatest honours of my career.”
Fraser-Pryce is the second consecutive Jamaican sprinter to win the award after Thompson-Herah.
Other nominees included swimmer Katie Ledecky, hurdler Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, Alpine skier Mikaela Shiffrin, Polish tennis player Iga Swiatek and Spanish soccer player Alexia Putellas.
cc: BBC
