Chinese breaststroker Qin Haiyang was nominated for the 2024 Laureus World Sports Awards in “World Breakthrough of the Year” category, one of three swimmers nominated from across categories in the annual awards showcase.
Italy’s Simone Barlaam and Ukraine’s Danylo Chufarov were also nominated in the Laureus World Sportsperson of the Year With a Disability category.
Qin, 24, won his first major international medals as early as 2018, when he was still a teenager. That year, he took silver in the 200 breast at the World Short Course Championships and won three medals at the Asian Games.
While he won some medals at minor meets thereafter, including a sweep of the breaststroke races at the 2021 World University Games, he largely receded into the crowd at the senior international level. At the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, he was disqualified in the 200 breaststroke and finished tied-for-26th in the 200 IM. At the 2022 World Championships he again struggled, placing 22nd in the 200 breast and 18th in the 200 IM, again missing out on even the semi-finals.
But in 2023, he dropped the 200 IM, focused on the breaststroke races, and saw monstrous results. At the World Championships, he won the 50, 100, and 200 meter breaststrokes to become the first man to ever pull off a sweep of all three distances of a stroke at the long course World Championships.
The 200 came in World Record fashion, while the 50 and 100 were new Asian Records.
Other Nominees in the Breakthrough Category
- Jude Bellingham, UK, football
- Linda Caicedo, Colombia, football
- Coco Gauff, USA, tennis
- Qin Haiyang, China, swimming
- Josh Kerr, UK, athletics
- Palma Paralluelo, football
In the para category, two swimmers were nominated.
The 23-year-old Barlaam from Italy won six gold medals Para Swimming World Championship in Manchester, bringing his career total to 18 titles at only 23 years old. He won the men’s 50, 100 and 400 metres freestyle S9, the 100m butterfly, and the 100m backstroke in the S9 category. He also won gold by swimming a leg on the mixed 4x100m freestyle relay.
He became the fastest S9 swimmer of all time as he broke the 50m freestyle world record in a time 23.96 seconds, becoming the first S9 swimmer to break the 24-second mark.
Chufarov is part of the long history of Ukrainian success in the para-swimming world. In spite of the challenges of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and especially the heavy fighting in his home of Mariupol, Chufarov won three gold medals (100 fly, 100 free, 200 IM) and a silver (100 breaststroke) in the S11 category for visual impairment at the World Championships.
His last World Championship came 10 years earlier in 2013.
Swimmers have won the Sportsperson of the Year with a Disability category on several occasions, most recently when Brazilian Daniel Dias won in 2016. He has won the award three times, also in 2013 and 2009.
No swimmers were nominated in the premier Sportswoman or Sportsman of the Year category. Only one swimmer has ever won Sportsman or Sportswoman of the Year from Laureus: American Missy Franklin in 2014.
The awards, which are presented annually, are given in a variety of categories, including Sportsman, Sportswoman, Team, Breakthrough Athlete, Comeback Athlete, Athlete with Disability, Action Sportsperson and Sport for Good. The program was formed in the year 1999 with the first awards given in the year 2000.
Does anyone have any news about Qin, his preparation and the dates of the Chinese selections for the 2024 Olympics?