Anna van der Bregen was awarded the prestigious Laureus Prize

Anna van der Bregen was awarded the prestigious Laureus Prize

Fri May 7, 2021 at 8:37 am

Anna van der Bregen was excluded from the awards at the annual Laureus Awards. The Dutch cyclist was a contender in the Sports of the Year category, but the prize ultimately went to tennis star Naomi Osaka.

Van der Breggen owes her candidacy for a highly successful season in 2020. She won gold in the time test and road race at the World Cycling Championship in Imola. She also dominated the Giro Rosa, the Walloon Arrow, the European Time Trial Championships and the Dutch road championships. SD Worx contestant could become the first Dutch winner of the most prestigious sports award.

But the competition was not trivial, with Kenyan athlete Brigid Kosje, Japanese tennis star Naomi Osaka, French soccer star Wendy Renard, Italian figure skater Federica Brignoni and NBA star Brianna Stewart. Osaka was ultimately voted the winner of the Laureus Prize.

Osaka won the title for a second time last year at the US Open, one of the four major tournaments in tennis. The 23-year-old athlete has also been praised for her commitment and support to the Black Lives Matter movement. The men’s title this year also went to a tennis player: Rafael Nadal.

Previous Dutch nominations
Only four times before has a Dutch woman been nominated for Sportsman of the Year. Swimmer Inge de Bruijn was nominated in 2001, 2002 and 2004, and was the role of Leontien Zijlaard-Van Moorsel in 2005. However, neither De Bruijn nor Van Moorsel won the award.

Johan Cruyff (Lifetime Achievement Award) and Ester Vergeer (Handicapped Athlete of the Year) have already won Laureus.