Laureus World Sports Award for Sportswoman of the Year
The Laureus World Sports Award for Sportswoman of the Year is an annual award honouring the achievements of individual women from the world of sports. It was first awarded in 2000 as one of the seven constituent awards presented during the Laureus World Sports Awards. The awards are presented by the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation, a global organisation involved in more than 150 charity projects supporting 500,000 young people. The first ceremony was held on 25 May 2000 in Monte Carlo, at which Nelson Mandela gave the keynote speech., 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 winner 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 American athlete Marion Jones who, at the time of the presentation, was considered to be "the world's dominant sprinter". She later admitted to having taken performance-enhancing drugs and, along with being stripped of her Olympic medals by the International Olympic Committee in 2007, her Laureus Award and nominations were rescinded. The 2020 winner of the Laureus World Sports Award for Sportswoman of the Year was the American gymnast Simone Biles who has won the award three times in four years. Sportswomen from athletics are the most successful overall, with eight wins and thirty-one nominations. American sportswomen have won more awards and nominations than any other nationality, with ten wins and twenty-nine nominations.
List of winners and nominees
| Year | Image | Winner | Nationality | Sport | Nominees | Ref |
| 2000 | * | Athletics | Lindsay Davenport – tennis Gabriela Szabo – athletics | |||
| 2001 | Athletics | Inge de Bruijn – swimming Marion Jones* – athletics Karrie Webb – golf Venus Williams – tennis | ||||
| 2002 | Tennis | Inge de Bruijn – swimming Stacy Dragila – athletics Annika Sörenstam – golf Venus Williams – tennis | ||||
| 2003 | Tennis | Marion Jones* – athletics Janica Kostelić – alpine skiing Paula Radcliffe – athletics Annika Sörenstam – golf | ||||
| 2004 | Golf | Inge de Bruijn – swimming Justine Henin-Hardenne – tennis Maria de Lurdes Mutola – athletics Paula Radcliffe – athletics Serena Williams – tennis | ||||
| 2005 | Athletics | Yelena Isinbayeva – athletics Carolina Klüft – athletics Maria Sharapova – tennis Annika Sörenstam – golf Leontien Zijlaard-Van Moorsel – cycling | ||||
| 2006 | Alpine skiing | Kim Clijsters – tennis Tirunesh Dibaba – athletics Yelena Isinbayeva – athletics Carolina Klüft – athletics Paula Radcliffe – athletics Annika Sörenstam – golf | ||||
| 2007 | Athletics | Justine Henin – tennis Carolina Klüft – athletics Laure Manaudou – swimming Amélie Mauresmo – tennis Maria Sharapova – tennis | ||||
| 2008 | Tennis | Yelena Isinbayeva – athletics Carolina Klüft – athletics Libby Lenton – swimming Marta – football Lorena Ochoa – golf | ||||
| 2009 | Athletics | Tirunesh Dibaba – athletics Lorena Ochoa – golf Stephanie Rice – swimming Lindsey Vonn – alpine skiing Venus Williams – tennis | ||||
| 2010 | Tennis | Shelly-Ann Fraser – athletics Federica Pellegrini – swimming Sanya Richards – athletics Britta Steffen – swimming Lindsey Vonn – alpine skiing | ||||
| 2011 | Alpine skiing | Kim Clijsters – tennis Jessica Ennis – athletics Blanka Vlašić – athletics Serena Williams – tennis Caroline Wozniacki – tennis | ||||
| 2012 | Athletics | Carmelita Jeter – athletics Maria Höfl-Riesch – alpine skiing Homare Sawa – football Petra Kvitová – tennis Yani Tseng – golf | ||||
| 2013 | Athletics | Allyson Felix – athletics Lindsey Vonn – alpine skiing Missy Franklin – swimming Serena Williams – tennis Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce – athletics | ||||
| 2014 | Swimming | Serena Williams – tennis Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce – athletics Yelena Isinbayeva – athletics Tina Maze – alpine skiing Nadine Angerer – football | ||||
| 2015 | Athletics | Valerie Adams – athletics Li Na – tennis Tina Maze – alpine skiing Serena Williams – tennis Marit Bjørgen – Nordic skiing | ||||
| 2016 | Tennis | Genzebe Dibaba – athletics Anna Fenninger – alpine skiing Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce – athletics Katie Ledecky – swimming Carli Lloyd – football | ||||
| 2017 | Gymnastics | Allyson Felix – athletics Laura Kenny – cycling Angelique Kerber – tennis Katie Ledecky – swimming Elaine Thompson – athletics | ||||
| 2018 | Tennis | Allyson Felix – athletics Katie Ledecky – swimming Garbiñe Muguruza – tennis Caster Semenya – athletics Mikaela Shiffrin – alpine skiing | ||||
| 2019 | Gymnastics | Simona Halep – tennis Angelique Kerber – tennis Ester Ledecká – snowboarding Daniela Ryf – triathlon Mikaela Shiffrin – skiing | ||||
| 2020 | Gymnastics | Allyson Felix – athletics Megan Rapinoe – football Mikaela Shiffrin – alpine skiing Naomi Osaka – tennis Shelly-Ann Fraser – athletics |
Statistics
| * | Indicates total excluding those of individuals whose award and/or nomination were later rescinded |
| Country | Winners | Nominations |
| 10* | 29* | |
| 2 | 6 | |
| 2 | 5 | |
| 1 | 8 | |
| 1 | 4 | |
| 1 | 3 | |
| 1 | 3 | |
| 1 | 2 | |
| 1 | 0 | |
| 0 | 6 | |
| 0 | 5 | |
| 0 | 4 | |
| 0 | 2 | |
| 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 |
| Sport | Winners | Nominations |
| Athletics | 7* | 33* |
| Tennis | 6 | 24 |
| Gymnastics | 3 | 0 |
| Alpine skiing | 2 | 11 |
| Swimming | 1 | 12 |
| Golf | 1 | 8 |
| Football | 0 | 5 |
| Cycling | 0 | 2 |
| Nordic skiing | 0 | 1 |
| Snowboarding | 0 | 1 |
| Triathlon | 0 | 1 |
| Name | Wins | Nominations |
| 4 | 5 | |
| 3 | 0 | |
| 2 | 4 | |
| 1 | 4 | |
| 1 | 3 | |
| 1 | 2 | |
| 1 | 1 | |
| 1 | 1 | |
| 1 | 1 | |
| 1 | 1 | |
| 1 | 0 | |
| 1 | 0 | |
| 1 | 0 | |
| 1 | 0 | |
| 0 | 5 | |
| 0 | 4 | |
| 0 | 4 | |
| 0 | 3 | |
| 0 | 3 | |
| 0 | 3 | |
| 0 | 3 | |
| 0 | 3 | |
| 0 | 2 | |
| 0 | 2 | |
| 0 | 2 | |
| 0 | 2 | |
| 0 | 2 | |
| 0 | 2 |