India's Neeraj Chopra nominated for Laureus World Sports Award; joins the likes of Medvedev, Pedri

India's first-ever winner of an Olympic athletics gold medal, Neeraj Chopra, has been selected as one of the six nominees for the 2022 Laureus World Breakthrough of the Year Award. The javelin hero is only the third Indian athlete to be nominated for a Laureus Award, after wrestler Vinesh Phogat in 2019 and cricket maestro Sachin Tendulkar, who won the Laureus Sporting Moment Award 2000-2020.

Also nominated with javelin hero Neeraj Chopra for the Breakthrough Award are UK's Emma Raducanu, who bagged the US Open at the age of 18, US Open 2021 winner and Australian Open 2022 runner-up Russia's Daniil Medvedev, FC Barcelona's football prodigy Pedri, Yulimar Rojas, who broke the 26-year-old triple jump world record, and 20-year-old swimmer Ariarne Titmus, who twice beat champion Katie Ledecky at 200 and 400m in Tokyo.

Neeraj Chopra, who won his gold medal in the men’s javelin at Tokyo 2020, is one of only two Indians to have won individual Olympic gold, the other being Abhinav Bindra in air rifle in 2008. The 23-year-old, who was making his Olympic debut in Tokyo, clinched the gold medal with a throw of 87.58 metres in his second attempt.

Also read: Padma Awards 2022: Neeraj Chopra to Avani Lekhara - Sporting heroes conferred with top civilian honours

Upon being nominated for the prestigious award, an elated Neeraj Chopra took to Twitter to state: A special feeling to be nominated along with some exceptional athletes for the Laureus World Breakthrough of the Year award. He also congratulated his fellow nominees.

A panel of more than 1,000 leading sports journalists and broadcasters the world over have selected the nominees across seven categories for Laureus World Sports Awards 2022. The winners will be revealed in April, following a vote by the Laureus World Sports Academy, the world’s ultimate sports jury made up of 71 of the greatest sporting legends of all time.

Meanwhile, the Nominees for the 2022 Laureus World Sportsman of the Year Award are: USA's Tom Brady, who won a record seventh Super Bowl, Serbia's Novak Djokovic, who bagged three Grand Slams in 2021 to take his total of career wins to 20, American swimmer Caeleb Dressel, who bagged five Olympic gold medals, Kenya's Eliud Kipchoge, who became the third person in history to win back-to-back Olympic marathons, Poland's Robert Lewandowski, who surpassed Gerd Muller's record of 40 goals in a season for Bayern Munich, and Netherland's Max Verstappen, who won his first Formula One World Championship in 2021.

The nominees for Laureus World Sportswoman of the Year award are: Australia's World No.1 Ashleigh Barty, who won Wimbledon 2021, her second career Grand Slam, USA's Allyson Felix, who surpassed Carl Lewis as the most decorated track and field US Olympian, America's Katie Ledecky, who won 800 and 1,500 metres freestyle golds in Tokyo, plus two silver medals, Australian swimmer Emma McKeon, who bagged four gold and three bronze in Tokyo, the most by an individual, Spain's Alexia Putellas, the Barcelona captain who won Ballon d'Or and UEFA Women's Player of Year, and Jamaica's Elaine Thompson-Herah, who won Olympic 100 and 200 metres and 4x100m relay.