Tobi Amusan nominated for #Laureus23 World Breakthrough of the Year Award
Tobi Amusan has been nominated for the Laureus 2023 World Breakthrough of the Year Award alongside fast rising tennis star Carlos Alcaraz, and four others.
The Nigerian broke and set different records as she ended the 2022 calendar year as the top women’s hurdler.
Tobi Amusan
Dispirited after finishing fourth in the Tokyo Olympics, 25-year-old Tobi Amusan produced one of the outstanding performances at the World Championships in Eugene, winning the 100 metres hurdles gold medal and breaking the world record in the semi-final with a time of 12.12 secs. She became the first Nigerian world champion and world record holder in an athletics event. She also won gold medals in the 100m hurdles and the 4 x 100m relay at the Commonwealth Games.
Scottie Shefler
Won the 2022 Masters, his first Major Championship, by three strokes from Rory McIlroy. In an outstanding start to the year, he also won the Phoenix Open, the Arnold Palmer Invitational and the WGC Dell Match Play. He is the first golfer since Arnold Palmer in 1960 to win four events in six starts, including the Masters, to begin a season. From March to October 2022, he was world No.1. He was also named US PGA Tour Player of the Year.
Nathan Chen
Won the Winter Olympics gold medal, ending the reign of Japan’s Yuzuru Hanyu, the 2014 and 2018 champion. The 23-year-old American is regarded as one of the best skaters of all time, with the highest winning percentage in competitions in the modern era. He had the longest winning streak in history from 2018 to 2021. A three-time world champion, he is known as the ‘Quad King’ for his mastery of quadruple jumps and is noted for the athletic ability he builds into his programmes.
Morocco National
Under head coach Walid Regragui, only appointed at the end of August, Morocco became the first African team to reach the semi-finals of the World Cup. They finished top of their first round group, then eliminated Spain in the round of the last 16 on penalties, and beat Portugal 1-0 in the quarter-finals to reach the semi-finals, where they lost to France. The heroics of players such as Achraf Hakimi, Sofyan Amrabat and goalkeeper Yassine Bounou won them fans across the world.
Carlos Alcarez
Won the US Open and became the youngest ever men’s world No.1 at 19 years, 4 months and 6 days. He was also the first teenager in the Open Era to top the men’s rankings. A day after his 19th birthday, at the Madrid Open, he beat Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic on successive days, becoming the first player to beat them back-to-back on clay. In addition to his US Open and Madrid Open victories, he also won the Rio Open, the Miami Open and the Barcelona Open.
Elena Rybakina
Russian-born, four years ago she decided to play for Kazakhstan because of lack of support from Russian tennis. Her reward came in 2022 when she beat Ons Jabeur in three sets to win Wimbledon. It was her first Grand Slam title and the first for a singles player representing Kazakhstan. With a powerful serve, reaching 122 mph (196 km/h), at 23, she is the youngest Wimbledon champion since 21-year-old Petra Kvitová in 2011.
