At the annual Laureus World Sport Awards, known as the Oscars of Sport, Hamilton was the first recipient of the new Athlete Advocate of the Year Award, which recognizes the Mercedes driver’s continued efforts to support racial justice and promote diversity.
During the 2020 Formula One season, following the George Floyd murder and race riots in the US, Hamilton spearheaded F1’s racial equality efforts, wore “Black Lives Matter” slogans and kneeled down at every Grand Prix during he positioned himself at the same time The Hamilton Commission had set itself the goal of making the F1 more diverse.
At the award ceremony, which took place digitally from Seville due to the coronavirus pandemic, Hamilton received his award in a video message.
“A big thank you to the Laureus World Sports Academy for giving us this incredible award,” said Hamilton.
“The past year has been incredibly difficult for so many, but it was also encouraging to see the power of our collective voices spark new conversation and change.
“The effect of each and every one of you who stood up is so inspiring that I want to thank you. Please keep fighting, keep shining your light.”
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The Athlete Advocate of the Year Award is Hamilton’s third award for Laureus. He won the Breakthrough Award in 2008 after his first F1 World Championship with McLaren and was named Laureus Sportsman of the Year last year with Barcelona football icon Lionel Messi.
Hamilton was also nominated in the 2020 Athlete of the Year category, but the main award went to Spanish tennis legend Rafael Nadal, who won Roland Garros for the 13th time last year.
Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, 1st place, lifts his trophy
Photo by: Steve Etherington / Motorsport Images
LeBron James, Los Angeles Lakers NBA star, Robert Lewandowski, Bayern Munich striker, and athletes Armand Duplantis and Joshua Cheptegei were the other nominees.
Hamilton’s Mercedes F1 team was among the nominees for World Team of the Year, a trophy it won in 2018. The Champions League and Bundesliga winners Bayern Munich took the award home with them.
Last year’s Suzuki MotoGP Champion Joan Mir was also named to the list of World Breakthrough of the Year nominations, but Patrick Mahomes, the quarterback who led the Kansas City Chiefs to the 2020 Super Bowl, received the nod.
Other stars of world sport who received awards at the Mercedes-sponsored event include tennis phenomenon Naomi Osaka, striker Mohamed Salah from Liverpool FC and tennis legend Billie Jean King.
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