The Laureus World Sports Award for Comeback of the Year is an annual award to honor an individual or team who have made a comeback in sports. First presented in 2000, it is one of the seven awards presented during the annual Laureus World Sports Awards of the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation, a global organisation involved in more than 150 charity projects supporting 500,000 young people. The awards are considered highly prestigious and are frequently referred to as the sporting equivalent of the Oscars.
Each year, a panel composed of the "world's leading sports editors, writers and broadcasters" makes a shortlist of candidates, of which one winner is chosen by the Laureus World Sports Academy. At the ceremony, which was first held on 25 May 2000 in Monte Carlo and since at various locations around the world, the winner receives a Laureus statuette created by Cartier.
The first winner of the award was American road cyclist Lance Armstrong, who had recovered from testicular cancer to win the 1999 Tour de France. After Armstrong admitted to doping in 2013, Laureus rescinded his awards and nominations. , the award has been won by a different individual sportsperson every year (seven to women, 17 to men), although elevens teams have been nominated – the England men's cricket team (2005), Miami Heat (2007), the Great Britain national rugby league team (2008), Crusaders (2012), Queensland Reds (2012), European Ryder Cup Team (2013), Germany Men's Olympic Eights Team (2013), Oracle Team USA (2014), FC Barcelona (2018), Chapecoense (2018) and Liverpool F.C. (2022). Tennis players dominate the winners list, with seven awards, while athletes, golfers and rugby union players have won twice. The 2026 winner of the award was the Northern Irish professional golfer Rory McIlroy.
List of winners and nominees + Key * Indicates individual whose award or nomination was later rescinded
+ Laureus World Sports Award for Comeback of the Year winners and nominees Year Image Winner Nationality Sport Nominees Refs 2000 * Cycling Andre Agassi () – tennis Ludmila Engquist () – athletics 2001 Tennis Heike Drechsler () – athletics Janica Kostelić () – alpine skiing Mario Lemieux () – ice hockey Dara Torres () – swimming 2002 Tennis John Daly () – golf Michael Jordan () – basketball Bernhard Langer () – golf Mario Lemieux () – ice hockey 2003 Ronaldo Football Janica Kostelić () – alpine skiing Hermann Maier () – alpine skiing Pete Sampras () – tennis Franziska van Almsick () – swimming 2004 Alpine skiing Fred Couples () – golf Inge de Bruijn () – swimming Peter Forsberg () – ice hockey Martina Navratilova () – tennis Alex Zanardi () – auto racing 2005 Auto racing John Daly () – golf England Men's Cricket Team () – cricket Tadahiro Nomura () – judo Paula Radcliffe () – athletics Shane Warne () – cricket 2006 Tennis Kajsa Bergqvist () – athletics Kim Clijsters () – tennis Antoine Dénériaz () – alpine skiing Jonah Lomu () – rugby union Colin Montgomerie () – golf 2007 Tennis Drew Brees () – American football Ben Curtis () – golf Roy Jones Jr. () – boxing Miami Heat () – basketball Zinedine Zidane () – football 2008 Athletics Christine Ohuruogu () – athletics Great Britain national rugby league team () – rugby league Jana Rawlinson () – athletics Steve Stricker () – golf Jonny Wilkinson () – rugby union 2009 Boxing Anna Meares () – cycling Greg Norman () – golf Matthias Steiner () – weightlifting Maarten van der Weijden () – swimming Tiger Woods () – golf 2010 Tennis Lance Armstrong* () – cycling Jessica Ennis () – athletics Brett Favre () – American football Blanka Vlašić () – athletics Tom Watson () – golf 2011 MotoGP Carolina Klüft () – athletics Merlene Ottey () – athletics Tyson Gay () – athletics Justine Henin () – tennis Paula Creamer () – golf 2012 Golf Crusaders () – rugby union Eric Abidal () – football Queensland Reds () – rugby union Liu Xiang () – athletics Sergio García () – golf 2013 Athletics Anna Meares () – cycling Ernie Els () – golf Europe Ryder Cup Team () – golf Germany Men's Olympic Eights Team () – rowing Tirunesh Dibaba () – athletics 2014 Tennis Yelena Isinbayeva () – athletics Oracle Team USA () – sailing Tony Parker () – basketball Ronaldinho () – football Tiger Woods () – golf 2015 Rugby union Francesco Acerbi () – football Diego Milito () – football Jo Pavey () – athletics Pierre Vaultier () – snowboarding Oliver Wilson () – golf 2016 Rugby union Jessica Ennis-Hill () – athletics Mick Fanning () – surfing Michael Phelps () – swimming David Rudisha () – athletics Lindsey Vonn () – alpine skiing 2017 Swimming Ruth Beitia () – athletics Juan Martín del Potro () – tennis Fabienne St Louis () – triathlon Nick Skelton () – equestrian Aksel Lund Svindal () – alpine skiing 2018 TennisFC Barcelona () – football Justin Gatlin () – athletics Sally Pearson () – athletics Valentino Rossi () – MotoGP Chapecoense () – football 2019 Golf Vinesh Phogat () – freestyle wrestling Yuzuru Hanyu () – figure skating Mark McMorris () – snowboarding Lindsey Vonn () – alpine skiing Bibian Mentel-Spee () – para-snowboarding 2020 Auto racing Andy Murray () – tennis Christian Lealiifano () – rugby union Kawhi Leonard () – basketball Liverpool F.C. () – football Nathan Adrian () – swimming 2021 Snowboarding Daniel Bard () – baseball Kento Momota () – badminton Alex Morgan () – football Mikaela Shiffrin () – alpine skiing Alex Smith () – American football 2022 Skateboarding Simone Biles () – gymnastics Mark Cavendish () – cycling Tom Daley () – diving Marc Márquez () – MotoGP Annemiek van Vleuten () – cycling 2023 Football Annemiek van Vleuten () – cycling Francesco Bagnaia () – MotoGP Jakob Ingebrigtsen () – athletics Klay Thompson () – basketball Tiger Woods () – golf 2024 Gymnastics Katarina Johnson-Thompson () – athletics Siya Kolisi () – rugby sevens Sébastien Haller () – association football Jamal Murray () – basketball Marketa Vondrousova () – tennis 2025 GymnasticsCaeleb Dressel () – swimming Lara Gut-Behrami () – alpine skiing Marc Márquez () – MotoGP Rishabh Pant () – cricket Ariarne Titmus () – swimming 2026 GolfAmanda Anisimova () – tennis Egan Bernal () – cycling Yulimar Rojas () – athletics Leah Williamson () – football Simon Yates () – cycling
Statistics Statistics are correct as of 2026 awards.
+ Winners by nationality Country Winners Nominations 5 35 4 17 2 3 2 3 2 0 1 5 1 5 1 4 1 3 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 1 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 10 0 5 0 4 0 4 0 3 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
+ Winners by sport Sport Winners Nominations Tennis 8 9 Golf 3 17 Athletics 2 21 Football 2 10 Rugby union 2 5 Gymnastics 2 2 Alpine skiing 1 9 Swimming 1 8 MotoGP 1 3 Auto racing 1 2 Snowboarding 1 2 Boxing 1 1 Skateboarding 1 1 Cycling 0 6 Basketball 0 4 American football 0 3 Cricket 0 3 Ice hockey 0 3 Badminton 0 1 Baseball 0 1 Diving 0 1 Figure skating 0 1 Freestyle wrestling 0 1 Judo 0 1 Para-snowboarding 0 1 Rowing 0 1 Rugby league 0 1 Sailing 0 1 Surfing 0 1 Triathlon 0 1 Weightlifting 0 1
References