Yuyan Jiang and Teresa Perales nominated for 2025 Laureus Awards

Para swimming is the sport with the most nominations for the 2025 Laureus World Sportsperson of the Year with a Disability Award. Chinese Para swimmer Yuyan Jiang and Spain’s Teresa Perales are among the six athletes nominated for this year’s awards.

The Laureus World Sports Academy announced the nominees on Monday, 3 March. The Laureus World Sportsperson of the Year with a Disability Award recognises the outstanding achievements of Para athletes in 2024, including performances at the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games.

Yuyan Jiang was the most successful athlete at the Paris Paralympics, winning seven gold medals. She claimed gold in the women’s 50m freestyle S6, 100m freestyle S7, 400m freestyle S6, 100m backstroke S6, 50m butterfly S6, as well as in the mixed 4x50m freestyle relay 20 points and the mixed 4x50m medley relay 20 points. Known as the ‘Flying Fish,’ Jiang also set two individual world records and was China’s flagbearer at the Closing Ceremony.

Teresa Perales made her seventh Paralympic appearance at the Paris 2024 Games. She won bronze in the women’s 50m backstroke S2, earning her 28th Paralympic medal. Perales, who debuted at the Sydney 2000 Paralympic Games, has won more medals than any other Spanish athlete.

The winner will be announced on April 21 in Madrid, Spain, during a ceremony that will mark the 25th anniversary of the inaugural Laureus World Sports Awards.

A Paralympic record and a gold medal 🥇

What a swim from Jiang Yuyan 🇨🇳#Paralympics | #Paris2024 pic.twitter.com/wcOWp6H01Y

— Paralympic Games (@Paralympics) August 29, 2024

Perales joined the official presentation of the nominees in Madrid on Monday and revealed that she is already planning for her eighth Paralympic Games in Los Angeles in 2028.

“I was thinking that this year I will celebrate 25 years since my first Paralympic medal, and I’m still competing,” she said. “The bronze medal I won in Paris is something hard to believe and very emotional. I never cried so much after a medal. It’s something unforgettable.”

Other athletes nominated for the 2025 Laureus World Sportsperson of the Year with a Disability Award include Swiss wheelchair racer Catherine Debrunner, Japanese wheelchair tennis player Tokito Oda, U.S. Para archer Matt Stutzman, and Chinese Para badminton player Qu Zimo.

Para swimming legend Daniel Dias of Brazil holds the record for the most wins, having received the award three times (2009, 2013, and 2016). South Africa’s Natalie du Toit is the other swimmer to have won the award (2010).

More information about the Laureus Awards can be found here.