Yelena Isinbayeva at the pre-competition press conference in Moscow (© Getty Images)
The seventh annual Laureus World Sports Awards will take place at the Parc del Fòrum, Barcelona, Spain, tomorrow evening, Monday 22 May.
In the seven main award categories, athletics has been honoured by the nomination of four of its stars in the bidding to be crowned the world’s best sportswoman of 2005, while there is also one nomination for the best comeback of last year, as well as three wheelchair athletes proposed in the disability sport category.
2004 and 2005 World Athlete of the Year Yelena Isinbayeva (RUS) is one of four athletes proposed for the title World Sportswoman of the Year, along with World 5000m and 10,000m champion Tirunesh Dibaba (ETH), Sweden’s Carolina Klüft, World, Olympic and European Heptathlon gold medallist, and Paula Radcliffe (GBR), World champion and record holder for the Marathon.
Sweden’s Kajsa Bergqvist is Athletics’ sole representative in the World Comeback of the Year category, after returning from an Achilles tendon injury to claim the World High Jump title.
The Laureus World Sports Awards honours the greatest sportsmen and women across all sports each year. The winners are selected by the ultimate sports jury - the 42 members of the Laureus World Sports Academy, the living legends of sport honouring the great athletes of today. The Awards are presented at an annual Awards Ceremony attended by global figures from sport, entertainment, business and fashion.
The Laureus World Sports Academy is a unique association of 42 of the greatest living sporting legends who have made exceptional contributions to the world of sport. Its members are: Giacomo Agostini, Severiano Ballesteros, Franz Beckenbauer, Boris Becker, Ian Botham, Sergey Bubka, Bobby Charlton, Sebastian Coe, Nadia Comaneci, Yaping Deng, Kapil Dev, David Douillet, Emerson Fittipaldi, Sean Fitzpatrick, Dawn Fraser, Tanni Grey-Thompson, Tony Hawk, Miguel Indurain, Michael Johnson, Michael Jordan, Kip Keino, Franz Klammer, Dan Marino, John McEnroe, Edwin Moses (Chairman), Nawal El Moutawakel, Robby Naish, Ilie Nastase, Martina Navratilova, Jack Nicklaus, Pelé, Gary Player, Morné du Plessis, Hugo Porta, Viv Richards, Monica Seles, Mark Spitz, Daley Thompson, Alberto Tomba, Steve Waugh, Katarina Witt and Yasuhiro Yamashita.
The nominees in all categories are as follows -
World Sportsman of the Year
Fernando Alonso (Spain) - Motor Racing
Lance Armstrong (United States) - Cycling
Roger Federer (Switzerland) - Tennis
Ronaldinho (Brazil) - Football
Valentino Rossi (Italy) - Motor Cycling
Tiger Woods (United States) - Golf
World Sportswoman of the Year
Kim Clijsters (Belgium) - Tennis
Tirunesh Dibaba (Ethiopia) - Athletics
Yelena Isinbayeva (Russia) - Athletics
Carolina Klüft (Sweden) - Athletics
Janica Kostelic (Croatia) - Skiing
Paula Radcliffe (United Kingdom) - Athletics
Annika Sorenstam (Sweden) - Golf
World Team of the Year
FC Barcelona (Spain) - Football
Croatia Davis Cup Team (Croatia) - Tennis
Liverpool FC (United Kingdom) - Football
All Blacks (New Zealand) - Rugby Union
Renault Formula One Team (France) - Formula One
San Antonio Spurs (United States) - Basketball
World Newcomer of the Year
Paula Creamer (United States) - Golf
Lionel Messi (Argentina) - Football
Andrew Murray (United Kingdom) - Tennis
Rafael Nadal (Spain) - Tennis
Danica Patrick (United States ) - Motor Racing
Ben Roethlisberger (United States) - American Football
World Comeback of the Year
Kajsa Bergqvist (Sweden ) - Athletics
Kim Clijsters (Belgium) - Tennis
Antoine Deneraz (France) - Skiing
Martina Hingis (Switzerland) - Tennis
Jonah Lomu (New Zealand) - Rugby Union
Colin Montgomerie (United Kingdom) - Golf
World Sportsperson of the Year with a Disability
Kirsten Bruhn (Germany) - Swimming
Zsuzsanna Krajnyak (Hungary) - Fencing
Leo-Pekka Tahti (Finland) - Wheelchair Racing
Ernst van Dyk (South Africa) - Wheelchair Racing
Esther Vergeer (Netherlands) - Wheelchair Tennis
Henry Wanyoike (Kenya) - Paralympic Athletics
World Alternative Sportsperson of the Year
Angelo d'Arrigo (Italy) - Hang-gliding
Chelsea Georgeson (Australia) - Surfing
Tanner Hall (United States) - Freeskiing
Kelly Slater (United States) - Surfing
Jeremy Stenberg (United States) - Moto-Cross
Danny Way (United States) - Skateboarding
Shaun White (United States) - Snowboarding
