Soccer world champion Lionel Messi has been named Sportsman of the Year by the Laureus Academy. At the Vendome Pavilion in Paris on Monday night, Messi received the Sportsman of the Year award and also accepted the team award for the Argentina national team. The 35-year-old, who plays for Paris Saint-Germain, was the first to receive both the individual and team awards in the same year.
Laureus awards also went to Jamaican track and field champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, young Spanish tennis star Carlos Alcaraz, footballer Christian Eriksen from Denmark, Swiss Paralympics athlete Catherine Debrunner and China’s Olympic freestyle skiing champion Eileen Gu.
