The jury of World Sports Photography Awards 2025 recently revealed the winners of its sixth edition. With more than 13 000 clichés submitted by more than 2,200 professional sports photographers from 96 countries, the event highlighted a year rich in notable moments, notably thanks to Paris Olympics.
The big winner, the French Jérôme Brouilletwas rewarded for a spectacular image of the surfer Gabriel Medinaliterally flying above the water during the surf event in Tahiti. Here is an overview of the most beautiful photographs awarded in the 24 categories of this prestigious competition.
General Category of the World Sports Photography Awards 2025
Unsurprisingly for this sports season, the winning photo is none other than the photo of Jérôme Brouillet during the surfing event in Tahiti counting towards the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. The image of Gabriel Medin walking above the waves went around the world and is quite logically rewarded with gold medal in the general category and the aquatic category.
THE Olympic photos occupy a place of choice in this selection, but other notable moments of 2024 in France also stand out, such as Rafael Nadal's last appearance on the clay of Roland-Garros.
Notable fact this year: for the first time, almost all awarded images (with the exception of 5 for which the EXIF data remains unknown) have been captured with mirrorless cameras. THE Nikon Z9 et Canon EOS R3 largely dominate, accompanied by a few Sony models, the only brands represented in this edition.
SLRs now seem belong to the pastalthough some optics designed for these devices continue to be used. This transition marks a decisive turning point in the evolution of sports photography, confirming the domination of hybrid devices in the professional environment.
Gold medal
Captured with a Nikon Z9 and Nikkor Z 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 VR S
Silver medal
Bronze medal
Aquatic
Captured with a Nikon Z9 and Nikkor Z 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 VR S
Athletics
Captured with a Canon EOS R1 and RF 400mm f/2.8 L IS USM
Baseball
Captured with a Canon EOS R3 and RF 70-200mm f/2.8 L IS USM
Basketball
Captured with a Nikon Z8 and AF-S Nikkor 14-24mm f/2.8 G ED
Boxing
Cricket
Captured with a Canon EOS R3 and an EF 600mm f/4 L IS II USM
Cycling
Captured with a Sony A9 II and FE 24-70mm f/2.8 GM II
Horse riding
Captured with a Sony A1 and FE 70-200mm f/2.8 GM OSS II
Captured with a Nikon Z9 and AF-S Nikkor 300mm f/2.8 G ED VR
Captured with a Canon EOS R3 and RF 50mm f/1.2 L USM
Formula 1
Captured with a Canon EOS R5 Mark II and a Voigtlander Nokton 75mm f/1.5
Golf
Captured with a Canon EOS R3 and an EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 L IS USM
Ice hockey
Captured with a Sony A9 III and FE 70-200mm f/2.8 GM OSS II
Martial arts
Captured with a Canon EOS R3 and RF 14-35mm f/4 L IS USM
Motor sports
Racquet sports
Captured with a Nikon Z9 and Nikkor Z 135mm f/1.8 S Plena
Rugby
Captured with a Canon EOS R3 and an EF 200-400mm f/4 L IS USM
Swimming and diving
Captured with a Canon EOS R3 and RF 100-300mm f/2.8 L IS USM
Urban and extreme
Captured with a Nikon Z9 and Nikkor Z 70-200mm f/2.8 VR S
Tennis
Captured with a Nikon Z9 and Nikkor Z 85mm f/1.2 S
Places and views
Winter sports
All photographs awarded by the World Sports Photography Awards as well as the finalists can be discovered on the competition website.
