Brazilians Gabriel Medina and Maya Gabeira and Australian Stephanie Gilmore are the three surfers nominated in the Action Sports category of the 2019 Laureus World Sports Awards to be held in Monaco on 18 February. The surfers will compete against three others from other disciplines and the winner will be the “athlete who demonstrates the best athletic performance and achievements in action sports in the qualifying year”, explains the Laureus World Sports Awards. awards website.

Gabriel Medina was a two-time world champion in 2018, winning Teahupoo, the inaugural Surf Ranch Pro and the Pipe Masters. Maya Gabeira earned her nomination for being the woman to surf the biggest wave in history at Nazaré, Portugal in January 2018. Stephanie Gilmore won her seventh world title in 2018 and was also the only one of the aforementioned surfers to win a Laureus Award in 2010. She was also nominated in the same category in 2008, 2009, 2011, 2013 and 2015.

The other three athletes nominated in the category are Shaun White (snowboarder and skateboarder), Chloe Kim (snowboarder) and Anna Gasser (snowboarder).

The Laureus World Sports Awards are the world's leading sports awards ceremony, honouring the best achievements in sport and celebrating the power of sport to change the world. The event has been running since 2000. In addition to the ceremony, the awards support more than 150 projects in over 40 countries, with one being recognised at the awards each year.

The award categories are: Best Sportsperson, Best Female Sportsperson, Best Team, Comeback, Achievement, Action, Disability and Sporting Moment. The athletes are selected by media from around the world and the winners are chosen by members of the Laureus World Sports Academy.