Dubai: Serbia's world No 1 tennis player Novak Djokovic was named Laureus World Sportsman of the Year after a remarkable 2011 when he won three Grand Slam events — the Australian Open, Wimbledon and the US Open — and took away the tennis world No 1 ranking from Rafael Nadal.
Kenya's distance runner Vivian Cheruiyot, who won both 5,000 and 10,000 metre gold medals at the World Championships in Daegu, was the Laureus World Sportswoman of the Year.
The winners of the 2012 Laureus World Sports Awards were unveiled at a globally televised awards ceremony in London.
Among the highlights were a record-equalling fourth Laureus Award for US surfer Kelly Slater and a double success for Northern Ireland golf, with both Darren Clarke and Rory McIlroy being honoured.
FC Barcelona finally won the Laureus Team of the Year Award after their fourth nomination in what's now regarded as the Oscar of sports awards.
McIlroy, 22, was named winner of the Laureus World Breakthrough of the Year Award after winning the US Open, his first Major Championship, while Clarke received the Laureus Comeback Award after his Open Championship victory at Royal St George's at his 20th attempt and at the age of 42.
Fourth award
Slater was named Laureus Action Sportsperson of the Year. It was his fourth Laureus Award, equalling the record of Roger Federer, the only other four-time winner.
South Africa's Oscar Pistorius, dubbed the ‘Blade Runner' because he uses carbon-fibre blades, was presented with the Laureus Disability Award, after becoming the first amputee to win a track medal in the non-disabled World Championships, a silver in the 4x400 metres relay.
England football legend Bobby Charlton was awarded the Laureus Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of his remarkable career. Former Brazilian international footballer Rai, now a campaigner for social justice, won the Laureus Sport for Good Award.
Top names
The awards were announced at Central Hall, Westminster, which was hosted by Academy Award-nominated and Golden Globe winner Clive Owen and attended by guests from the worlds of sport and entertainment.
The members of the Laureus World Sports Academy present were: Giacomo Agostini, Boris Becker, Sergey Bubka, Nadia Comaneci, Marcel Desailly, Kapil Dev, Mick Doohan, Emerson Fittipaldi, Sean Fitzpatrick, Dawn Fraser, Tanni Grey-Thompson, Tony Hawk, Mike Horn, Miguel Indurain, Kip Keino, Franz Klammer, Edwin Moses, Nawal Al Moutawakel, Robby Naish, Ilie Nastase, Martina Navratilova, Alexey Nemov, Gary Player, Morne du Plessis, Hugo Porta, Steve Redgrave, Monica Seles, Mark Spitz, Daley Thompson, Alberto Tomba, Steve Waugh and Katarina Witt.
Proceeds from the Laureus World Sports Awards directly benefit and underpin the work of the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation.
The foundation supports 91 community sports projects in 34 countries around the world, including five in London. Since its inception, Laureus has raised €40 million (Dh192.26 million) for projects which have improved the lives of more than one-and-a-half million young people.
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