Magnificant Márquez reflects on Laureus Nomination in Spirit of Sport

The latest episode of the Laureus-presented Spirit of Sport show sits down with a Spanish MotoGP legend – and features the launch of nominations for the Laureus World Sports Awards. Spanish motor cyclist Marc Márquez’s career could have been over when he picked up an arm injury after a bad crash in 2020. Four surgeries later and, in 2024, he completed his successful comeback to the sport with victory in September’s Aragon Grand Prix – ending a 1043-day drought stretching back to 2021.He followed up the Aragon victory with two more in 2024, at the San Marino and Rimini Grand Prix, and the Australian Grand Prix in October. In an exclusive interview with this month’s Spirit of Sport to mark his nomination for the Laureus World Comeback of the Year Award, he said. “It means a lot to be nominated for this award. Last year was a super good year – it brought back my confidence and performance. latest episode preview “The feeling of winning in Aragon was as if I had lost 10 kilos. The expectation was super high, part of me tried to avoid it but it was impossible. I had been close to winning before and everybody was asking me when it would happen.
"At the German GP (in July) I shared the podium with my brother, Alex (Marc finished second and Alex, third). I was more and more confident from there and the first win arrived after that."
Also in this month’s episode, Spirit of Sport was in attendance at a special event to mark Madrid’s hosting of the Laureus World Sports Awards for a second time on April 21. The Nominees were announced and Laureus Academy Members and Ambassadors reflected on the incredible list of names who will fight it out for the statuettes in this year’s 25th anniversary Awards.
Sean Fitzpatrick, chairman of the Laureus World Sports Academy, said: “Following on from the Olympics and Paralympics, the quality of Nominees is phenomenal. In the Sportsman of the Year category, there’s Max Verstappen, Marc Márquez, Carlos Alcaraz… there was a lot of pressure on Léon Marchand, and he delivered, winning four golds. There were so many other great stories like Mondo Duplantis, who had an outstanding year.”
Gymnastic legend Nadia Comăneci was delighted to see two stars of the Paris Olympics on the shortlists. “Gymnastics is represented very well with Simone Biles (Sportswoman of the Year) and Rebeca Andrade (Comeback of the Year). It was nice to see the competition between the two of them [in Paris] because they are both unique.”
The event also celebrated 25 years of Sport for Good – and Laureus Academy Member Katarina Witt reflected on its legacy. “The setting up of the Sport for Good Foundation was dearest to [the Academy Members’] hearts – and the Sport for Good projects throughout the years show us that we are on the right path.”
This month’s episode also features a visit to Waves for Change, a surf therapy programme in Cape Town, who won the Laureus Sport for Good award in 2017; Motor racing driver and F1 Academy graduate, Bianca Bustamante shares how she hopes to inspire the next generation; and the episode also showcased the transformative power of sport by featuring the Laureus Mental Health and Wellbeing through Sport Forum, which took place in Hong Kong across four days in February.