Aitana Bonmati pips Sha'Carri Richardson and Mikaela Shiffrin to win Laureus Sportswoman of the Year Award 2024 

Spanish footballer Aitana Bonmati has defeated the likes of Sha'Carri Richardson and Mikaela Shiffrin to win the Laureus Sportswoman of the Year 2024.

The Barcelona women's player had an incredible season in 2024, leading the team to Champions League and La Liga titles. Bonmati also played an influential role in Spanish women winning their first-ever FIFA World Cup title.

Bonmati also received the Ballon d'Or in October last year and became the first-ever woman to win the Champions League, FIFA World Cup and Ballon d'Or in the same year. Added to her list of accolades is the Laureus Sportswoman of the Year now as she joins an elite group of international women athletes including Simone Biles, Serena Williams and Jennifer Capriati.

Former American skier Lindsey Vonn presented the award to Bonmati. Speaking with Vonn, the Spanish forward said she was honored to receive the award and hoped to continue on the path of previous winners of the prestigious award.

"I am honored to receive the Laureus for Sportswoman of the Year – and I am also very happy that my international team-mates have been recognized as the Team of the Year by the Laureus World Sports Academy,” Bonmati said.

Along with Aitana Bonmati, American athletes Sha'Carri Richardson and Mikaela Shiffrin were also nominated for the Laureus Sportswoman of the Year Award 2024. The other nominees for the award were Shericka Jackson of Jamaica, Faith Kipyegon of Kenya and Iga Swiatek of Poland.

While Sha'Carri Richardson and Mikaela Shiffrin didn't get enough votes to win the award, the two Americans can be proud of their 2023 campaigns. While Richardson raced to a championship record of 10.65s for 100m gold at the 2023 World Championships, Shiffrin became the skier with the most ever World Cup victories last year.

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Sha'Carri Richardson makes outdoor season debut at Xiamen Diamond League

Day 8 - World Athletics Championships Budapest 2023

After skipping multiple events ahead of the 2024 Wanda Diamond League opener in Xiamen, China, Sha'Carri Richardson's first 200m race of the season didn't go exactly the way she would have planned. The world champion had to settle for a silver medal after falling agonizingly short of gold by 0.03 seconds.

The gold medal was secured by Australian prodigy Torrie Lewis who clocked 22.96s for the win. While Richardson wouldn't have expected to lose to a 19-year-old, she knows it's just her first event of the year.

Speaking in a post-race interview with Wanda Diamond League, Sha'Carri Richardson claimed that she was a ‘little nervous’ on opening her season late but was feeling ‘good’ after the performance she put up in China.

"I feel really good about it being a season opener. It’s kind of late for me in this season to open up. I was a little nervous, but once I got on track, it felt like home, so I felt really good with this first performance,” Richardson said.