South Africa's Rubgy team win Laureus World Team of the Year

2019 Rugby World Cup team South Africa on Monday (local time) won the Laureus World Team of the Year award.

2019 Rugby World Cup team South Africa on Monday (local time) won the Laureus World Team of the Year award. The memory of Siya Kolisi, South Africa's historic first black Test rugby captain, lifting the Webb Ellis Trophy in Yokohama, was an iconic moment in sport and.

The team's victory united communities back in South Africa and was proof of sport's ability to change the world. In the Laureus Sportsperson of the Year with a Disability category, Oksana Masters, born with limb impairments caused by radiation from Chernobyl, and adopted by an American single parent, was recognised by the Laureus World Sports Academy for an outstanding year in 2019.

She won five gold medals and a silver at the World Para Nordic Skiing Championships, plus the cross-country overall World Cup title. She also won silver medals in the road race and time trial H5 at the Para-Cycling Road World Championships.

Snowboarding sensation Chloe Kim won the Laureus World Action Sportsperson of the Year Award. Chloe won gold medals in the World Championship halfpipe and X Games Superpipe. She is now a double Laureus Award winner after her Action Sportsperson win in 2019.

America's Simone Biles continued to push the boundaries of the sport of gymnastics. At the World Championships, the 22-year-old won five gold medals, including a record fifth all-around world title and helped USA win a fifth straight team medal. In Berlin, she confirmed her place in the history of Laureus, winning her third coveted Laureus Sportswoman of the Year Award in four years.

For the 2020 Laureus World Comeback of the Year, the number 276 will be a constant reminder of the resilience, courage and dedication it takes to return from the toughest setbacks. Travelling at 276km per hour, F3 driver Germany's Sophia Florsch lost control of her car at the Macau circuit, crashing through safety barriers and leaving her with a spinal fracture which required an 11-hour surgery and months of rehabilitation.

In November 2019, a year on from her accident, 18-year-old Sophia was back in the cockpit, racing once again in the Macau Grand Prix. The full list of winners is:

Laureus World Sportsman of the Year: Lewis Hamilton and Lionel Messi Laureus World Sportswoman of the Year: Simone Biles

Laureus World Team of the Year: South Africa Men's Rugby Team Laureus World Breakthrough of the Year: Egan Bernal

Laureus World Comeback of the Year: Sophia Florsch Laureus World Sportsperson of the Year with a Disability: Oksana Masters

Laureus World Action Sportsperson of the Year: Chloe Kim Laureus Best Sporting Moment: 'Carried on the shoulders of a nation' - Sachin Tendulkar

Laureus Lifetime Achievement Award: Dirk Nowitzki Laureus Academy Exceptional Achievement Award: Spanish Basketball Federation

Laureus Sport for Good Award: South Bronx United (ANI)

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