Lionel Messi and the Argentinian football team have been honoured at the annual Laureus Sports Awards.
The Argentinian Messi was named sportsman of the year while his national football side was named team of the year.
Argentina won last year’s Football World Cup, its third title, while Messi was named as the best player in the tournament.
Jamaican sprinter, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Price, was named as sportswoman of the year for her performance at last year’s World Athletic Championships. She also ran the 100m in less than 10.7 seconds seven times last year. No woman had previously ever managed more than three sub-10.7 times in a single calendar year.
Tennis player, Carlos Alcaraz, won the Breakthrough of the Year award. The 19-year-old won last year’s US Open and also became the youngest man to ever be ranked as tennis’s world number one. Comeback of the Year was awarded to a Dane, Christian Eriksen, who suffered a heart attack on the field during the Euro 2022 football competition but subsequently returned to playing professionally.
The Springboks had been named the Laureus team of the year in 2020, following their victory in the 2019 Rugby World Cup.