Nadal encourages Messi to win 'Sports Oscar'
On February 20, the organizers of the Laureus World Sports Awards announced six nominations for the best male athlete of the year, including Kylian Mbappe, Messi, F1 driver Max Verstappen, high jumper Mondo Duplantis, Nadal and basketball player Stephen Curry.
"I am honored to be nominated again for this award," Nadal wrote on Instagram at the same time. "But this year... come on Messi, you deserve it."
The Laureus World Sports Awards, considered by many major newspapers around the world as the Oscars of sports, began in 2000 and takes place annually. Tennis player Roger Federer is the most successful with five wins, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2018. Novak Djokovic and track athlete Usain Bolt are second with four honors. Nadal, Michael Schumacher and Tiger Woods have also won twice.
Messi has been nominated six times but has only won once in 2020, when he received it with F1 driver Lewis Hamilton. Cristiano Ronaldo and MotoGP rider Valentino Rossi have both been nominated five times without ever winning.
In 2022, Messi impressed with the first World Cup championship with Argentina, and also won the Golden Ball of the tournament. Mbappe also won the World Cup Golden Shoe when France lost in the final. Verstappen won last year's Laureus, continuing to be nominated for the F1 championship. Duplantis is the European and world champion in pole vaulting and has broken the world record three times. Nadal won the Australian Open and Roland Garros. And Curry won the NBA, and also received the NBA Finals and All Stars best player awards.
The Laureus Awards have five main categories, selected by a panel of the world's top reporters, journalists and commentators. Then another panel of sports icons, Olympic champions or world record holders elects the winner. All six male athletes on this year's shortlist have been nominated before.
Nadal is a fan of Real Madrid, while Messi has scored the most goals in the history of rival Barca. In addition to Messi, Nadal also wished compatriot Carlos Alcaraz to win the most impressive breakthrough athlete of the year.
The six female athletes nominated for Laureus 2023 are Alexia Putellas (soccer), Iga Swiatek (tennis), Katie Ledecky (swimming), Mikaela Shiffrin (ski), Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce and Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone (jockey). terrible).
