The Laureus World Sports Award for Breakthrough of the Year (previously known as the Laureus World Sports Award for Newcomer of the Year until 2007) is an annual award honoring the achievements of individuals or teams who deliver breakthrough performances in the world of sports. First presented in 2000, it is one of seven constituent awards within the Laureus World Sports Awards. The awards are presented by the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation, a global organization involved in over 150 charity projects supporting 500,000 young people. The inaugural ceremony took place on 25 May 2000 in Monte Carlo, where Nelson Mandela delivered the keynote address. , a shortlist of six nominees for the award comes from a panel composed of the "world's leading sports editors, writers and broadcasters". The Laureus World Sports Academy then selects the individual winner or winning team who is presented with a Laureus statuette, created by Cartier, at an annual awards ceremony held in various locations around the world. The awards are considered highly prestigious and are frequently referred to as the sporting equivalent of "Oscars".

The inaugural winner of the award was the Spanish golfer Sergio García. During his debut season as a professional, the 19-year-old finished one stroke behind Tiger Woods at the 1999 PGA Championship and became the youngest player to gain selection for Team Europe for the Ryder Cup. In 2018 he also became the first and, , only person to win the award twice, after winning his first major golf tournament (The Masters) at the age of 37. Altogether, the award has been won by five women and eighteen men, although several teams have also been nominated. British sportspeople have won more awards than any other nationality with six, followed by Spanish with five. Tennis players are the most successful overall with seven wins, followed by golfers with six. The winner in 2017 was the German Formula One driver Nico Rosberg. Having beaten teammate Lewis Hamilton to the 2016 World Championship title by five points, Rosberg announced his retirement from the sport five days later, two months prior to collecting his Laureus statuette. The 2026 winner of the award was the British racing driver Lando Norris.

List of winners and nominees + Laureus World Sports Award for Breakthrough of the Year winners and nominees Year Image Winner Nationality Sport Nominees Refs 2000 Golf Kurt Warner () – American football Serena Williams () – tennis 2001 Tennis Aaron Baddeley () – golf Jenson Button () – Formula One Juan Carlos Ferrero () – tennis Brett Lee () – cricket 2002 Formula One Kim Clijsters () – tennis Steven Gerrard () – football Justine Henin () – tennis Andy Roddick () – tennis 2003 Yao Ming Basketball Daniela Hantuchová () – tennis David Nalbandian () – tennis Wayne Rooney () – football Jochem Uytdehaage () – speed skating 2004 Golf Fernando Alonso () – Formula One Ben Curtis () – golf LeBron James () – basketball Robinho () – football Maria Sharapova () – tennis 2005 Liu Xiang Athletics Amir Khan () – boxing Svetlana Kuznetsova () – tennis Laure Manaudou () – swimming Dani Pedrosa () – MotoGP Xing Huina () – athletics 2006 Tennis Paula Creamer () – golf Lionel Messi () – football Andy Murray () – tennis Danica Patrick () – auto racing Ben Roethlisberger () – American football 2007 Tennis Xavier Carter () – athletics Ghana men's national football team () – football Lewis Hamilton () – Formula One Britta Steffen () – swimming Ma Xiaoxu () – football 2008 Formula One Novak Djokovic () – tennis Tyson Gay () – athletics Alberto Contador () – cycling Oscar Pistorius () – athletics Casey Stoner () – MotoGP 2009 Swimming Novak Djokovic () – tennis Ana Ivanovic () – tennis Anthony Kim () – golf Sebastian Vettel () – Formula One Zou Kai () – gymnastics 2010 Formula One Mark Cavendish () – cycling Tom Daley () – diving Juan Martín del Potro () – tennis Jiyai Shin () – golf VfL Wolfsburg () – football 2011 Golf Christophe Lemaitre () – athletics Teddy Tamgho () – athletics Louis Oosthuizen () – golf Matteo Manassero () – golf Thomas Müller () – football 2012 Golf Li Na () – tennis Oscar Pistorius () – athletics Mo Farah () – athletics Petra Kvitová () – tennis Yohan Blake () – athletics 2013 Tennis Gabby Douglas () – gymnastics Kirani James () – athletics Neymar () – football Yannick Agnel () – swimming Ye Shiwen () – swimming 2014 MotoGP Afghanistan men's national cricket team () – cricket Raphael Holzdeppe () – athletics Nairo Quintana () – cycling Justin Rose () – golf Adam Scott () – golf 2015 Formula One Marin Čilić () – tennis Mario Götze () – football Switzerland Davis Cup team () – tennis Mikaela Shiffrin () – alpine skiing James Rodríguez () – football 2016 Golf Max Verstappen () – Formula One Chile men's national football team () – football Adam Peaty () – swimming Tyson Fury () – boxing Jason Day () – golf 2017 Formula One Almaz Ayana () – athletics Fiji men's rugby sevens team () – rugby sevens Iceland men's football team () – football Leicester City F.C. () – football Wayde van Niekerk () – athletics 2018 Golf Giannis Antetokounmpo () – basketball Caeleb Dressel () – swimming Anthony Joshua () – boxing Kylian Mbappé () – football Jeļena Ostapenko () – tennis 2019 Tennis Ana Carrasco () – MotoGP Jakob Ingebrigtsen () – athletics Geraint Thomas () – cycling Sofia Goggia () – Alpine skiing Briana Williams () – athletics 2020 Cycling Andy Ruiz () – boxing Bianca Andreescu () – tennis Coco Gauff () – tennis Japan men's rugby team () – rugby union Regan Smith () – swimming 2021 American football Ansu Fati () – football Joan Mir () – MotoGP Tadej Pogačar () – cycling Iga Świątek () – tennis Dominic Thiem () – tennis 2022 Tennis Neeraj Chopra () – athletics Daniil Medvedev () – tennis Pedri () – footballYulimar Rojas () – athletics Ariarne Titmus () – swimming 2023 Tennis Elena Rybakina () – Tennis Morocco men's national football team () – football Nathan Chen () – Figure skating Scottie Scheffler () – Golf Tobi Amusan () – Athletics 2024 Football Linda Caicedo () – Football Coco Gauff () - Tennis Qin Haiyang () – Swimming Josh Kerr () – Athletics Salma Paralluelo () – Football 2025 Football Julien Alfred () – Athletics Bayer 04 Leverkusen () – Football Summer McIntosh () – Swimming Letsile Tebogo () – Athletics Victor Wembanyama () – Basketball 2026Lando NorrisFormula OneDésiré Doué () – football João Fonseca () – tennis Shai Gilgeous-Alexander () – basketball Luke Littler () – darts Yu Zidi () – swimming

Statistics Statistics are correct as of 2026 winners.

+ Winners by nationality Country Winners Nominations 8 17 6 10 3 20 2 8 2 7 2 3 1 6 1 7 1 3 1 1 0 4 0 3 0 3 0 2 0 3 0 3 0 2 0 2 0 2 0 2 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1

+ Winners by sport Sport Winners Nominations Tennis 7 24 Golf 6 11 Formula One 6 6 Football 2 23 Athletics 1 21 Swimming 1 9 Cycling 1 5 MotoGP 1 4 Basketball 1 3 American football 1 2 Boxing 0 4 Alpine skiing 0 2 Cricket 0 2 Gymnastics 0 2 Auto racing 0 1 Diving 0 1 Figure skating 0 1 Rugby sevens 0 1 Speed skating 0 1

See also Best Breakthrough Athlete ESPY Award

References