| A glittering collection of the world's greatest sports stars are waiting to discover if they are winners of prestigious Laureus World Sports Awards to be announced in Abu Dhabi on March 10. Last year's winner of the Laureus World Sportsman of the Year Award, Usain Bolt, and four-time winner Roger Federer have both been nominated again for the Award, along with FC Barcelona's precocious young footballer Lionel Messi, long distance runner Kene-nisa Bekele, Tour de France winner Alberto Contador and Italy's seven-time senior MotoGP champion Valentino Rossi. Two-time Laureus winner Serena Wil-liams is nominated for the Laureus World Sportswoman of the Year Award after winning two Grand Slam titles in 2009. Also short-listed are swimmers Federica Pellegrini and Britta Steffen, athletes Shelly-Ann Fraser and Sanya Richards, and US ski racer Lindsey Vonn. Several of sport's biggest names Tour de France cyclist and two-time Laureus winner Lance Armstrong, golfing legend Tom Watson and Belgian tennis star Kim Clijsters - have been nominated for the Laureus World Comeback of the Year Award. Also nominated in this category are American Football quarter-back Brett Favre and athletes Jessica Ennis and Blanka Vlasic.
The Laureus World Team of the Year Award could be the most competitive battle with Los Angeles Lakers and New York Yankees pitched against FC Barcelona, the Ger-many Women's Football Team, Brawn GP Formula One and the South Africa Rugby Team, who were winners in 2008. The Nominees for the Laureus World Break-through of the Year Award include three Britons Formula One World Champion Jenson Button, Tour de France cyclist Mark Cavendish and diver Tom Daley. Also no-minated are Argentina's winner of the US Open tennis star Juan Martin del Potro, South Korea's talented young golfer Ji Yai Shin and German football team VFL Wolfsburg. Wheelchair racer Kurt Fearnley, who crawled the 96km Kokoda Trail in Papua New Guinea to raise awareness of men's health issues, is nominated for the second time in four years for the Laureus World Sportsperson of the Year with a Disability Award, along with fellow Australian Justin Eveson, Turkish archer Gizem Girismen, Ja-pan's Shingo Kunieda, German cyclist Mi-chael Teuber and South African swimmer Nata-lie du Toit, who com-petes in both able-bodied and Paralympic events. Surfing dominates the Laureus World Action Sports Award this year, with Australian world champions Mick Fanning and Stephanie Gilmore nominated along with American Greg Long and French windsurfer Antoine Albeau. Also nominated are US skateboarder Chris Cole and British cyclist Danny MacAskill. For more detailed biographies of the 2010 Nominees go to www.laureus.com/Awards/2010/Nominees. The Laureus World Sports Awards, which recognise sporting achievement during the period January 1 - December 31, 2009, are the premier honours on the international sport-ing calendar. The winners, as voted by the Laureus World Sports Academy, the ultimate sports jury, made up of 46 of the greatest sportsmen and sportswomen of all time, will be unveiled during a televised Awards Ceremony in Abu Dhabi on March 10. |
