Edgar Su’s image ‘Carlos’ shadow hits a ball’ has been announced as the overall winner of the record-breaking, Canon-sponsored 2026 World Sports Photography Awards competition.
This image by Edgar Su, showing Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz in action during his fourth-round tennis match against Britain’s Jack Draper at the 2025 Australian Open hosted in Melbourne, Australia, took out the major prize in this year’s World Sports Photography Awards. © Edgar Su.
The World Sports Photography Awards continues to attract the world’s leading sports photographers and is judged by experts from sport, media, photography, brand and creative industries. This year’s awards mark the most successful edition in the competition’s history. A record-breaking 23,130 images were submitted by 4,120 photographers representing 123 countries, reinforcing the Awards’ status as one of the most internationally diverse and widely recognised sports photography competitions in the world. The exceptional quality and diversity of this year’s submissions highlight that, even with rapid technological advancements, the photographer’s eye and craft remain paramount. As the only global sports awards dedicated exclusively to sports imagery, the submissions represent work from the world’s best professional sport photographers
The full gallery of winning images – including Top 10 selections across every sporting category – is showcased on the World Sports Photography Awards website.
