News Text: Nina LemosOn a night in Berlin that celebrated sporting legends and remarkable triumphs, triple Formula One champion Niki Lauda dedicated his Laureus Lifetime Achievement award to those who went home empty handed “I've seen a lot of people here winning and losing, so I'd like to dedicate this award to the losers,” Lauda said “Because from my own experience, winning is one thing, but out of losing I always learned more for the future, so I felt stronger from losing ”The Austrian driver, now 67, was almost killed in a horrendous crash during the 1976 German Grand Prix at the Nürburgring circuit, but was racing again just six weeks later and took home his second world championship in 1977 He suffered extensive scarring in the crash and his story has become a source of inspiration for those recovering from adversity in the world of sports and beyond Lauda’s testimony in Berlin on Monday (18 April) drew tears from the members of the Laureus World Sports Academy, who each year select the winners of the elite awards Niki Lauda with current F1 champion Lewis Hamilton and Daniel Brühl, who played Lauda in the film 'Rush'(Photo: Getty Images/Tom Dulat)Since the first ceremony in 2000, the Laureus Awards have come to be considered the ‘Oscars of sport’ Just as in Hollywood, emotions ran high at the ceremony in the German capital and many sports people were moved to tears over the course of the night Novak Djokovic, who was named Laureus World Sportsman of the Year for the second consecutive year, dedicated the award with tears in his eyes to Lauda and to the late Dutch footballing legend Johan Cruyff, who died in March “These guys are my inspiration,” said the Serbian tennis star, who won the singles bronze medal at the Beijing 2008 Games and is aiming for gold at Rio 2016 Djokovic defeated sportsmen such as footballer Lionel Messi and Formula One driver Lewis Hamilton to take home the title for the third time In 2015, he won three out of the four tennis Grand Slam tournaments There were more tears when Cruyff’s son Jordi, also a professional footballer, accepted a posthumous Spirit of Sport award for his father “It’s been very little time since we lost him and to see how important he is for people and to receive this support is very important for me,” said Jordi “I had intended to stand on this stage alongside my father, but now I have to accept the prize alone” Jordi CruyffAnother tennis star, Serena Williams, picked up the Laureus World Sportswoman of the Year award for a record-equalling fourth time Like Djokovic, Williams won three Grand Slam events in 2015 The 34-year-old American has won four Olympic gold medals and will defend her singles title in Rio, which is likely to be her last Olympic Games Serena Williams has won 21 singles titles at Grand Slam events (Photo: Getty Images/Julian Finney)As well as tennis, rugby – which will return to the Olympic Games in Rio, in the sevens form, after 92 years – was another big winner in Berlin The All Blacks, the New Zealand rugby union team, won the Laureus Team Award and star player Dan Carter received the Laureus Comeback of the Year Award following the team’s Rugby World Cup success in 2015 The World Team of the Year goes to the all time amazing All Blacks! @AllBlacks @LaureusSport #LWSA16 pic twitter com/wWOpYtKWo9— Rio 2016 (@Rio2016_en) April 18, 2016To the delight of the Berlin audience, Germany’s Jan Frodeno, the first man to win both the Ironman World Championship and an Olympic triathlon gold medal, was presented with the Laureus Action Sports Award American golfer Jordan Spieth – who is targeting gold on golf's return to the Olympic fold at Rio 2016 – won the Laureus Breakthrough of the Year Award In 2015, Spieth won two of golf’s four major events Brazilian Paralympic swimmer Daniel Dias won his third Laureus Disability Award, another record Dias, who is one of Brazil’s big hopes for gold medals the Paralympic Games in Rio in September, said:“This is another great honour for me and gives me great encouragement, as we are now in the build-up to the Paralympic Games in Rio”Daniel DiasBrazilian paralympic swimming star Daniel Dias will be competing in Rio in September (Photo:Getty Images/Friedemann Vogel)American actor and comedian Bill Murray hosted the ceremony in Berlin and brought some laughter, song and levity to a night of high emotions Murray told the audience that Laureus must be the only awards ceremony where celebrities in dinner jackets and designer dresses wore trainers on their feet  “It's so I can get out of here quickly,” former Italian football star Alessandro del Piero joked, in reference to a charity initiative – #SneakersforGood – that encouraged guests to turn up in sports shoes Djokovic and former footballers Carles Puyol (fourth from left) and Jans Lehmann (far right) show off their trainers(Photo: Getty Images/Gareth Cattermole)