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SCMP Sport

Chinese swimming sensation Yu Zidi has been nominated for a Laureus World Sports Award, the youngest athlete to ever receive that honour.
The 13-year-old is up for the Breakthrough of the Year Award alongside the likes of NBA star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Formula 1 champion Lando Norris.
There has been recognition too for Hong Kong charity Rugby for Good in the Laureus Sport for Good category.
Yu made history at the World Aquatics Championships last year, becoming the youngest swimmer to ever medal at the event, claiming bronze as part of China women’s 4x200m freestyle relay team when she was just 12.
The teenager is the second Chinese swimmer to be nominated for the breakthrough award, after Qin Haiyang in 2024, and if successful will be the first from the country to win the category since ex-NBA star Yao Ming, who won in 2003 and went on to become a Laureus World Sports Academy Member 12 years later.

Rugby For Good has been recognised for the rugby sessions it runs to support children with ADHD and their families, and is one of six projects in the category, alongside programmes that promote football, tennis and other sports in disadvantaged communities around the world.
“We are deeply honoured to be shortlisted for the Laureus Sport for Good Award,” Rock Chow, the programme’s executive director, said. “This recognition validates our belief that sport, specifically through our family-based rugby model, is a powerful catalyst for systemic change.”
The awards return to Madrid this year, with a glittering ceremony at Madrid’s Cibeles Palace on April 20, that should include the elite of global sport.
Already rivals on the court, tennis superstars Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner will battle it out for sportsman of the year, alongside the likes of Paris Saint-Germain’s Ousmane Dembele and pole vault world record Mondo Duplantis, who won the award in 2025.
In the sportswoman category, there are three gold medallists from the World Athletics Championships – Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, Faith Kipyegon and Melissa Jefferson-Wooden – going up against world tennis No 1 Aryna Sabalenka, swimmer Katie Ledecky and women’s Ballon d’Or winner Aitana Bonmati.
The team of the year includes the likes of McLaren, last season’s dominant force in F1, the victorious European Ryder Cup team and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s Oklahoma City Thunder, who claimed a first NBA championship in franchise history.


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Yu Zidi

China’s teen swimming sensation Yu becomes youngest ever to receive Laureus nomination

Yu Zidi became the youngest swimmer ever to win a medal at the World Aquatics Championships. Photo: Reuters

Rugby For Good has been nominated in the Sport for Good category. Photo: Rugby For Good

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China

Yu Zidi up for Breakthrough of the Year Award, while Hong Kong charity Rugby for Good also gets a nod in Sport for Good category


Yu Zidi up for Breakthrough of the Year Award, while Hong Kong charity Rugby for Good also gets a nod in Sport for Good category.


China’s teen swimming sensation Yu becomes youngest ever to receive Laureus nomination

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Yu Zidi up for Breakthrough of the Year Award, while Hong Kong charity Rugby for Good also gets a nod in Sport for Good category

Yu Zidi up for Breakthrough of the Year Award, while Hong Kong charity Rugby for Good also gets a nod in Sport for Good category