Emma Raducanu, Tom Daley and Sky Brown among Brits nominated for Laureus World Sports Awards

US Open champion Emma Raducanu is one of six British athletes nominated for prizes at the prestigious Laureus World Sports Awards.

Raducanu, who was voted BBC Sports Personality of the Year after her stunning Flushing Meadows triumph, is on the six-strong shortlist for Breakthrough of the Year, with other nominees including Australian swimming sensation Ariarne Titmus, Spain and Barcelona star Pedri and triple jump world record holder Yulimar Rojas.

British contenders make up half of the shortlist for the Comeback of the Year award. Skateboard star Sky Brown is nominated after returning from multiple skull fractures to become Britain’s youngest Olympic medallist, while Tom Daley recovered from knee surgery to finally win Olympic gold and Mark Cavendish battled back from depression to equal Eddy Merckx’s Tour de France record for stage victories. The trio’s competition includes US gymnast Simone Biles.

Team GB’s Olympic BMX champions Bethany Shriever is nominated for the World Action Sportsperson of the Year, while Dame Sarah Storey is among the nominees for Sportsperson of the Year with a Disability after becoming Britain’s most successful Paralympian.

(PA)

There are no British contenders for the main Sportsman and Sportswoman of the Year awards, however.

The shortlist for the former is headlined by newly-retired NFL star Tom Brady and also includes Bayern Munich star Robert Lewandowski, F1 world champion Max Verstappen and Kenya’s marathon king Eliud Kipchoge.

Novak Djokovic, winner of three Grand Slams in 2021, is also nominated, despite recent controversy that saw him deported from Australia in a Covid row, as is US swimmer Caeleb Dressel, who won five gold medals in Tokyo.

Dressel’s teammate Katie Ledecky and Australia’s Emma McKeon are nominated for the women’s award after their pool exploits in Tokyo, while 100m and 200m Olympic champion Elaine Thompson-Herah and US track legend Allyson Felix are also on the list, which is completed by newly-crowned Australian Open champion Ash Barty and Barcelona’s Alexia Putellas.