Norris, Littler and Lionesses up for Laureus awards

3rd Mar 2026 | Source: BBC

Lando Norris, Luke Littler and Leah Williamson are all shortlisted after landing their sports' biggest prizes

Lando Norris, Luke Littler and the England women's football team are among the nominees for this year's Laureus World Sports Awards.

Having claimed the 2025 Formula 1 driver's title at a final-race decider in Abu Dhabi, Norris has been shortlisted in the Breakthrough of the Year category.

He will be up against Littler, who, aged 18, became the youngest player to complete darts' Triple Crown by winning the world championship, Premier League and World Matchplay titles.

The Lionesses, victorious in the European Championship following a penalty shoot-out against Spain last summer, are nominated alongside the European Ryder Cup golf team, who claimed their first win on US soil since 2012, and Formula 1 constructors champions McLaren for the Team of the Year award.

The winners will be announced at a ceremony in Madrid on 20 April.

Leah Williamson, who led England to that second-consecutive Euros title as well as Arsenal to Champions League glory after recovering from an anterior cruciate ligament injury, is named in the Comeback of the Year category.

Also up for that prize are Rory McIlroy, who ended an 11-year wait for a fifth major when he triumphed at the Masters to complete a career Grand Slam, and Simon Yates, who won the 2025 Giro d'Italia seven years after losing a 38-minute lead.

Fellow cyclist Tom Pidcock, who was named Action Sportsperson of the Year last year, is again shortlisted for that award in light of success at the Mountain Bike World Cup and European Mountain Bike Championship and securing a first Grand Tour podium at the Vuelta a Espana.

Pole vaulter Armand Duplantis, reigning Sportsman of the Year, is nominated again in recognition of winning a third-consecutive outdoor world title and setting four world records.

Ballon d'Or winner Ousmane Dembele is among Duplantis' rivals after helping Paris St-Germain win the Champions League for the first time. Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner, who shared the four tennis Grand Slams last year, are also in the running.

Tadej Pogacar, who claimed his fourth Tour de France title, and seven-time MotoGP world champion Marc Marquez are the other contenders.

Pole vaulter Armand Duplantis had another record-setting 12 months

Barcelona women's midfielder Aitana Bonmati could repeat her 2024 success in the Sportswoman of the Year category after leading her club to a domestic treble and collecting a record-setting third-consecutive Ballon d'Or.

Other nominees include tennis star Aryna Sabalenka, who finished the season as world No.1 after lifting her second US Open, and 800m and 1500m freestyle world champion swimmer Katie Ledecky.

Three athletes who starred at the world championships in Tokyo in September - Melissa Jefferson-Wooden, winner of the 100m, 200m and 4x100m relay; four-time 1,500m gold medallist Faith Kipyegon and 400m winner Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone - complete that category.

Six nominees are also shortlisted for the Sportsperson of the Year with a Disability award including David Kratochvil, who won four golds at the World Para Swimming Championships.

He is joined by fellow swimmers Gabriel Araujo and Simone Barlaam, as well as Para-athlete Catherine Debrunner and ice hockey player Kelsey DiClaudio.