Olympic great Lindsey Vonn to host Laureus World Sports Awards 2022 in Seville

Spain: Lindsey Vonn, the greatest women’s skier of all-time, will be the host of the 2022 Laureus Awards Show in the picturesque Spanish city of Seville on Sunday, April 24, when the winners of this year’s Laureus World Sports Awards are revealed.

First staged in 2000, the Laureus Awards celebrates the greatest achievements of individuals and teams across all sports. The winners are chosen by the votes of the 71 members of the Laureus World Sports Academy: the greatest sportsmen and women of today being saluted by the most illustrious legends of the past.

Lindsey Vonn was honoured by the Laureus Academy in 2019 when she was presented with the Laureus Spirit of Sport Award to mark the end of her remarkable career. In 2021 she became a member of the Laureus Academy.

“When I received the Laureus Spirit of Sport Award on my retirement in 2019, I remember saying I was sad to be leaving my sport but I was looking forward to the next chapter of my life and doing something incredible. That’s exactly how I feel now to be the host for the 2022 Laureus World Sports Awards in the beautiful city of Seville. This is going to be an incredible night for myself and for all the winners of these very special awards,” said Lindsey Vonn as per an official release.

“I know how emotional and uplifting it is to receive a Laureus Award and it’s going to be so exciting to be part of the awards show in Seville. Although we can’t host the nominees and winners in person this year, I have seen all the preparations for the virtual event. It’s going to be a wonderful evening,” she added.

In her career, Lindsey won four Overall World Cups – one of only three female skiers to do so – and a record eight World Cup Downhill titles. In 2016, she won her 20th World Cup title, the overall record for men or women, surpassing Ingemar Stenmark of Sweden. Her total of 82 World Cup race victories is a women’s record. She was a winner in all five Alpine skiing disciplines.

She won the downhill gold medal at the Winter Olympics in 2010, where she also won bronze in the super-g, which led to her receiving the 2011 Laureus World Sportswoman of the Year Award. Despite breaking her right arm three months before and also suffering a back injury, she won a bronze in the downhill at the 2018 Winter Olympics.

The Laureus Awards, which reflects sporting achievement during 2021, is the premier honours event on the international sporting calendar. The winners, in a variety of different categories, will be revealed in a ‘virtual’ format as a result of continuing uncertainty over the COVID pandemic.

Among the nominees, selected by a panel of more than 1,200 of the leading sports journalists and broadcasters in the world, are Tom Brady, Robert Lewandowski, Max Verstappen, Elaine Thompson-Herah, Emma McKeon, Emma Raducanu, Pedri, Simone Biles, Sky Brown, Mark Cavendish, Tom Daley, Marc Marquez, Diede De Groot, Marcel Hug, Carissa Moore and Momiji Nishiya.

Among those shortlisted for the Laureus Team of the Year Award are three football teams: European Championship winners Italy, Copa America winners Argentina, including Lionel Messi, and the Barcelona Women’s team which won the Champions League.