This list lists all athletes who at the Laureus World Sports Awards in the category "Breakthrough of the Year" (breakthrough of the year) were nominated (by 2006 the category was called " Newcomer of the Year "). The winners are highlighted in color.
| 2007 | France Amélie Mauresmo ( France ) |
tennis |
United States Xavier Carter ( USA ) |
athletics | |
Ghana National football team ( Ghana ) |
Soccer | |
United Kingdom Lewis Hamilton ( Great Britain ) |
GP2 series | |
Germany Britta Steffen ( Germany ) |
swim | |
China People's Republic Ma Xiaoxu ( China ) |
Soccer | |
| 2008 | United Kingdom Lewis Hamilton (Great Britain) |
formula 1 |
Serbia Novak Đoković ( Serbia ) |
tennis | |
|
United States Tyson Gay (USA) |
athletics | |
Spain Alberto Contador ( Spain ) |
Cycling | |
South Africa Oscar Pistorius ( South Africa ) |
athletics | |
Australia Casey Stoner ( Australia ) |
Motorcycling | |
| 2009 | United Kingdom Rebecca Adlington (Great Britain) |
swim |
|
Serbia Novak Đoković (Serbia) |
tennis | |
|
Serbia Ana Ivanović (Serbia) |
tennis | |
|
United States Anthony Kim (USA) |
golf | |
|
Germany Sebastian Vettel (Germany) |
formula 1 | |
|
China People's Republic Zou Kai (China) |
do gymnastics | |
| 2010 | United Kingdom Jenson Button (Great Britain) |
formula 1 |
|
United Kingdom Mark Cavendish (Great Britain) |
Cycling | |
|
United Kingdom Tom Daley (Great Britain) |
Diving | |
|
Germany VfL Wolfsburg (Germany) |
Soccer | |
Argentina Juan Martín del Potro ( Argentina ) |
tennis | |
Korea South Ji-Yai Shin ( South Korea ) |
golf | |
| 2011 | Germany Martin Kaymer (Germany) |
golf |
|
France Christophe Lemaitre (France) |
athletics | |
Italy Matteo Manassero ( Italy ) |
golf | |
|
Germany Thomas Müller (Germany) |
Soccer | |
|
South Africa Louis Oosthuizen (South Africa) |
golf | |
|
France Teddy Tamgho (France) |
athletics | |
| 2012 | Northern Ireland Rory McIlroy ( Northern Ireland ) |
golf |
Jamaica Yohan Blake ( Jamaica ) |
athletics | |
Czech Republic Petra Kvitová ( Czech Republic ) |
tennis | |
|
China People's Republic Li Na (China) |
tennis | |
|
South Africa Oscar Pistorius (South Africa) |
athletics | |
|
United Kingdom Mo Farah (Great Britain) |
athletics | |
| 2013 | United Kingdom Andy Murray (Great Britain) |
tennis |
|
United States Gabby Douglas (USA) |
do gymnastics | |
Grenada Kirani James ( Grenada ) |
athletics | |
Brazil Neymar ( Brazil ) |
Soccer | |
|
France Yannick Agnel (France) |
swim | |
|
China People's Republic Ye Shiwen (China) |
swim | |
| 2014 | Spain Marc Márquez (Spain) |
Motorcycling |
Afghanistan National cricket team ( Afghanistan ) |
Cricket | |
|
Germany Raphael Holzdeppe (Germany) |
athletics | |
Colombia Nairo Quintana ( Colombia ) |
Cycling | |
|
United Kingdom Justin Rose (Great Britain) |
golf | |
|
Australia Adam Scott (Australia) |
golf | |
| 2015 | Australia Daniel Ricciardo (Australia) |
formula 1 |
Croatia Marin Čilić ( Croatia ) |
tennis | |
|
Germany Mario Götze (Germany) |
Soccer | |
Switzerland Swiss Davis Cup team ( Switzerland ) |
tennis | |
|
United States Mikaela Shiffrin (USA) |
Alpine skiing | |
|
Colombia James Rodríguez (Colombia) |
Soccer | |
| 2016 | United States Jordan Spieth (USA) |
golf |
Chile National football team (Chile) |
Soccer | |
|
Australia Jason Day (Australia) |
golf | |
|
United Kingdom Tyson Fury (Great Britain) |
Boxing | |
|
United Kingdom Adam Peaty (Great Britain) |
swim | |
Netherlands Max Verstappen (Netherlands) |
formula 1 | |
| 2017 | Germany Nico Rosberg (Germany) |
formula 1 |
Ethiopia Almaz Ayana ( Ethiopia ) |
athletics | |
Fiji National Rugby Union Team ( Fiji ) |
rugby | |
Iceland National football team ( Iceland ) |
Soccer | |
|
United Kingdom Leicester City (Great Britain) |
Soccer | |
|
South Africa Wayde van Niekerk (South Africa) |
athletics | |
| 2018 | Spain Sergio García Fernández (Spain) |
golf |
Greece Giannis Antetokounmpo ( Greece ) |
basketball | |
|
United States Caeleb Dressel (USA) |
swim | |
|
United Kingdom Anthony Joshua (Great Britain) |
Boxing | |
|
France Kylian Mbappé (France) |
Soccer | |
Latvia Jeļena Ostapenko ( Latvia ) |
tennis | |
| 2019 | Japan Naomi Osaka (Japan) |
tennis |
|
Spain Ana Carrasco (Spain) |
Motorcycling | |
|
Italy Sofia Goggia (Italy) |
Alpine skiing | |
Norway Jakob Ingebrigtsen (Norway) |
athletics | |
|
United Kingdom Geraint Thomas (Great Britain) |
Cycling | |
|
Jamaica Brianna Williams (Jamaica) |
athletics | |
| 2020 | Colombia Egan Bernal (Colombia) |
Cycling |
Canada Bianca Andreescu (Canada) |
tennis | |
|
United States Cori Gauff (USA) |
tennis | |
|
Japan Japan National Rugby Union Team (Japan) |
Rugby union | |
|
United States Andy Ruiz (USA) |
Boxing | |
|
United States Regan Smith (USA) |
swim |
Current categories
World Sportsman of the Year |
World Sportswoman of the Year |
Team of the year |
Disabled athlete of the year |
Breakthrough of the year |
Action Sportsman of the Year |
Comeback of the year |
Sport for Good Award |
Spirit of Sport Award |
Lifetime achievement award
Former categories
Newcomer of the Year (replaced by Breakthrough of the Year)
Alternative Sportsman of the Year (replaced by Action Sportsman of the Year)
