Jude Bellingham and Katarina Johnson-Thompson shortlisted for Laureus World Sports Awards 2024

Jude Bellingham and Katarina Johnson-Thompson are among the leading British athletes to be nominated for the 2024 Laureus World Sports Awards.

Bellingham’s superb start to life at Real Madrid this season earns him a nomination for the Breakthrough of the Year award alongside fellow countryman Josh Kerr who stunned Jakob Ingebrigtsen to win 1500m gold at last year’s World Championships.

Johnson-Thompson, meanwhile, is shortlisted for Comeback of the Year after the 30-year-old returned from serious Achilles and calf injuries to claim her second World Championship heptathlon gold in Hungary.

“The journey to get back to being amongst the world’s best after rupturing my achilles as well as the other injuries and surgeries I’ve had over the past couple years was hard, really really hard,” Johnson-Thompson said.

“I questioned myself, I felt like quitting, I didn’t know what was possible but I had an amazing team around me who kept me going.”

Also nominated in that category is American gymnast Simone Biles, who came back to the sport following a mental-health break to claim four golds at last year’s World Championships, and Sebastien Haller, who fired Ivory Coast to Africa Cup of Nations glory just 13 months after returning from testicular cancer.

Manchester City striker Erling Haaland and Inter Miami forward Lionel Messi headline a six-strong shortlist for the World Sportsman of the Year prize alongside Novak Djokovic, Max Verstappen, Mondo Duplantis and Noah Lyles also up for the award.

The Sportswomen of the Year award, meanwhile, is dominated by athletics, with Shericka Jackson, Sha’Carri Richardson and Faith Kipyegon making up three of the six nominees. World Cup-winning midfielder Aitana Bonmati, tennis star Iga Swiatek and alpine skier Mikaela Shiffrin complete the list.

Haaland’s 52 goals in 53 games in his maiden Premier League campaign have also seen Manchester City nominated for the Team of the Year award. Pep Guardiola’s treble-winning side are up against the European Ryder Cup winning team as well as Spain’s Women’s World Cup winners and the South African men’s Rugby team who successfully defended their World Cup title in France last autumn.

The full list of nominees can be viewed here.