Superstars line up for world sports awards

Reuters

TOP OF THE HILL: Laureus World Sportsman Award nominations (clockwise from top left) Roger Federer, Lionel Messi, Alberto Contador, Valentino Rossi, Kenenisa Bekele and Usain Bolt.

Opinion poll

Who do you think should win the Laureus World Sportsman Award for 2009?

Roger Federer (tennis)

Kenenisa Bekele (running)

Valentino Rossi (motorcycling)

Alberto Contador (cycling)

Usain Bolt (sprinting)

Lionel Messi (football)

Vote Result

Opinion poll

Who do you think should win the Laureus World Sportswoman Award for 2009?

Shelly-Ann Fraser (athletics)

Federica Pellegrini (swimming)

Sanya Richards (athletics)

Britta Steffen (swimming)

Lindsey Vonn (skiing)

Serena Williams (tennis)

Vote Result

Opinion poll

Who do you think should win the Laureus World Team Award for 2009?

FC Barcelona

Brawn Formula One Team

Germany Women’s Football Team

Los Angeles Lakers

New York Yankees

South Africa Rugby Team

Vote Result

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If the New Zealand Halberg Awards judges had it tough, spare a thought for those trying to decide the winners of the 2010 Laureus World Sports Awards.

In a glittering list of nominations, the judges in the sportsman of the year category must separate the efforts of Usain Bolt, Roger Federer, Kenenisa Bekele, Alberto Contador, Lionel Messi and Valentino Rossi.

Bolt won the award last year, while Federer is a four-time winner and Messi will seek to become the first to win the sportsman of the year title from a team.

The awards recognise sporting achievements for the calendar year 2009. The winners will be named on March 10 at a ceremony in Abu Dhabi.

In the sportswoman of the year, two-time winner Serena Williams is nominated again along with five others including Jamaican sprinter Shelly-Ann Fraser and American 400 metres world champion Sanya Richards.

The Springboks rugby team, winner of the team award in 2008, is nominated again after sweeping the All Blacks 3-0, beating the British and Irish Lions and winning the Tri-Nations.

"This has been a great year for sport and the academy is going to find it extremely difficult to decide who to vote for as winners," Edwin Moses, Laureus World Sports Academy chairman and double Olympic gold medallist.

NOMINATIONS

World Sportsman of the Year
Kenenisa Bekele (Ethiopia) Athletics – first 5000 and 10,000m double in World Championships
Usain Bolt (Jamaica) Athletics – won 100m, 200m & 4x100m relay World Championship gold medals
Alberto Contador (Spain) Cycling – won his second Tour de France in three years
Roger Federer (Switzerland) Tennis – broke Pete Sampras record for most Grand Slam singles titles won
Lionel Messi (Argentina) Football – FIFA World Player of the Year, a star in Barcelona's brilliant year
Valentinio Rossi (Italy) Motor Cycling – won his seventh senior MotoGP world title

World Sportswoman of the Year
Shelly-Ann Fraser (Jamaica) Athletics - added World Championship 100 metres gold to Olympic gold
Federica Pellegrini (Italy) Swimming – broke the four minute barrier in 400m freestyle
Sanya Richards (US) Athletics – won first individual 400m gold medal in a global championship
Britta Steffen (Germany) Swimming – won World Championship 50m & 100m gold in world record times
Lindsey Vonn (US) Skiing – won World Cup for second year and two gold medals at World Championships
Serena Williams (US) Tennis – won Australian Open and Wimbledon and regained world No 1 ranking

World Team of the Year
FC Barcelona (Spain) Football – won Champions League, Spanish League and Spanish Cup in 2008/09
Brawn Formula One Team (UK) – won Drivers and Constructors World Championships in debut year
Germany Women’s Football Team – won their fifth straight European Championship
Los Angeles Lakers (US) Basketball - won 15th NBA title in their record 30th play-off appearance
New York Yankees (US) Baseball – won their 27th – and record – World Series
South Africa Rugby Team – international rugby team of the year, won series against British and Irish Lions as well as the Tri-Nations series against All Blacks and Wallabies.

World Breakthrough of the Year
Jenson Button (UK) Motor Racing – won Formula One World Championship after 169 Grand Prix
Mark Cavendish (UK) Cycling – won six stages of the Tour de France, a record for a British cyclist
Tom Daley (UK) Diving – won 10m platform gold medal in World Championship, at age 15
Juan Martin del Potro (Argentina) Tennis – beat Roger Federer in final to win US Open, at age 21
Ji Yai Shin (South Korea) Golf – rookie of the year on the US LPGA Tour, winning three events
VFL Wolfsburg (Germany) Football – small club from Lower Saxony, won their first Bundesliga title

World Comeback of the Year
Lance Armstrong (US) Cycling – returned to Tour de France at 37 after four year gap, finished third
Kim Clijsters (Belgium) Tennis – won US Open in her third tournament back after two year absence
Jessica Ennis (UK) Athletics – won World Championship heptathlon after missing Olympics with injury
Brett Favre (US) American Football – came out of retirement and created record for consecutive starts
Blanka Vlasic (Croatia) Athletics – won World Championship high jump after disappointment at Olympics
Tom Watson (US) Golf – came within a putt of winning the British Open at age 59

World Sportsperson of the Year with a Disability
Justin Eveson (Australia) Wheelchair Basketball – winner of every tournament in which he took part
Kurt Fearnley (Australia) Wheelchair Racing – won all five marathons in which he competed in 2009
Gizen Girismen (Turkey) Para-Archery – No 1 archer in the world in her category since 2007
Shingo Kunieda (Japan) Wheelchair Tennis – unbeaten in 77 matches dating back to 2007
Michael Teuber (Germany) Cycling – won three gold and one silver medal in World Championships
Natalie du Toit (S.Africa) Swimming – continued to dominate able-bodied and disabled events in 2009

World Action Sportsperson of the Year
Antoine Albeau (France) Windsurfing – won the 2009 PWA Slalom World Championship
Chris Cole (US) Skateboarding – won the Dew Cup and was named Skater of the Year
Mick Fanning (Australia) Surfing – won his second World Surfing Championship in three years
Stephanie Gilmore (Australia) Surfing – won her third straight World Surfing Championship, at just 21
Greg Long (US) Surfing – won big wave event at Waimea Bay, Hawaii, in front of 50,000 spectators
Danny MacAskill (UK) Trials Bikes – spectacular stunt video seen by 350,000 on You Tube in 40 hours

- © Fairfax NZ News

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Paul   #24   09:05 pm Feb 12 2010

Matt #12 To say that Nadal is a better player is rubbish. Nadal will never win as many Majors as Roger. His style of play mean his body will brak down.... ongoing. Whilst Nadal has a good head to head record it doesn't matter - its who wins the big ones! Roger is King and he will win more even though hes coming to the end of his career and Nadal will probably be lucky to win one or two more majors.

Si   #23   07:35 pm Feb 12 2010

Shout out Serena? not likely

Matt Sang   #22   06:06 pm Feb 12 2010

I guess they are lucky that no New Zealand rowers have been nominated

Scott Wills   #21   04:29 pm Feb 12 2010

Both Fed and Nadal are amazing. But at the end of the day, bad knees or not....the numbers are what matters. Like the Sampras v Agassi battles before, there is a clear Champion amongst mere contenders. Federer I am afraid is the greatest. And no win/loss ratio will change opinion because of his sustained domination of the sport.

Being "fully Fit", isn't that 100% a players responsibility?

FLIPFLOP Rafa plays so hard, that he's probably driven his body into the ground matching and at times exceeding Fed. Amazing sportsman, shame.

wil   #20   04:22 pm Feb 12 2010

i'm with you rob jimmie johnson has proven time and time again that four doors are better than none, 4 championships back to back! your the man jimmie johnson! oh yea can someone tell me what a "tunk" is? refer F1 #8

Scott   #19   04:14 pm Feb 12 2010

What does Vili have to do to be nominated, isnt she like a mile ahead of her competators? not a big fan of athletics so unsue but from what I heard no one can beat her?

Rob   #18   03:52 pm Feb 12 2010

F1 # 8 what's a tunk ? actually real cars do have roofs , hoods and trunks. What I meant to say is Brawn couldn't back it up , not even with another diffuser. It is a pity F1 is so boring these days , oh we'll.

Sam   #17   03:36 pm Feb 12 2010

I think it should definently Alberto Contador, anyone who watched the epic stage of tour de france will agree with me. Probably Federica Pellegrini for woman although Serena will get it. Brawn for team of the year, its a joke that the yankees and lakers are even nominated. Breakthrough of the year is clearly jenson button. And comeback is obviously Kim Clijsters. Hopefully these arent rigged like the halbergs are.

Davo   #16   03:10 pm Feb 12 2010

So far the total poll votes reads 179 for the women and 665 for the men. Should they even bother including women in the story/awards, how about a best looking athelte instead?

Nick   #15   03:07 pm Feb 12 2010

Good on you Matt #12 for proving you know nothing about the sport of Tennis. Part of what makes a player great is the ability to stay fit and sustain their dominance at the top, Federer has done that remaining injury and illness free. Hell he even won a title in 08, making 2 other finals and a semi final when he had glandular fever. Rafa is broken and for this reason will not go down among the great names in tennis like Federer will.

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