Formula One world champion Max Verstappen and triple Tokyo Olympic gold medallist Elaine Thompson-Herah won the Laureus World Sportsman and Sportswoman of the Year awards Sunday in a virtual ceremony from Seville.

Dutchman Verstappen, who won the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix earlier Sunday, follows Rafael Nadal who won the men's award last year and his great rival Lewis Hamilton, who shared the men's prize with Lionel Messi in 2020.

Thompson-Herah is not the first Jamaican sprinter to win an award. 

"I know Usain [Bolt] has won Laureus Awards before, so to bring this trophy back home to the Caribbean, also in Jamaica, is very special," she said.

The awards are organized by the Laureus Sports Foundation and the 2021 winners were selected by a 71-member panel led by All Black rugby great Sean Fitzpatrick.

In a sign of how ephemeral sporting achievements can be, the Italian men's football team, who followed winning the Euros last year with missing the World Cup this spring, were voted the "Team of the Year," for a second time.

British tennis starlet Emma Raducanu, who has struggled for consistency since winning the US Open last year, received the "Breakthrough of the Year" award.

The ceremony mopped up other big stars with a series of special awards. 

NFL quarterback Tom Brady, a 44-year-old seven-time winner Super Bowl winner who retired then unretired after last season, received a "Lifetime Achievement" award.

Bayern Munich striker Robert Lewandowski, who broke Gerd Mueller's Bundesliga scoring record, was given an "Exceptional Achievement" award. 

Seven-time elite motorbike champion Valentino Rossi won the "Sporting Icon" award, after retiring in November at the end of a 25-year career.

"This Award was founded in the year 2000 when Nelson Mandela said 'sport has the power to change the world' and I totally agree with that," said Brady.

"Pele was voted for this Award in 2000. Billie Jean King was voted last year. People I really looked up to."

Skateboarder Sky Brown won the "Comeback of the Year" award aged 13. 

She fractured her skull in training in June 2020 and was unresponsive when she arrived at hospital. She recovered and competed in Tokyo winning bronze and becoming Britain's  youngest Olympic medalist at 13 years and 28 days.

Swiss wheelchair racer Marcel Hug was named "World Sportsperson of the Year with a Disability" for the second time after winning Tokyo Paralympics golds in 800, 1,500, with a world record time, 5,000 and marathon. 

He also won the Berlin, New York and Boston marathons in 2021.