Vonn nominated for World Sportswoman of the Year Award

American ski racing star Lindsey Vonn was among the list of the world’s top athletes nominated for the 2011 Laureus World Sports Awards announced Tuesday, Jan. 11.

The nominees were announced at three press conferences held in Abu Dhabi, Madrid and Munich Tuesday, following a nomination process that involved the leading sports journalists from across the globe, the announcement of contenders such as Vonn, Kobe Bryant and Rafael Nadal suggests the 2011 awards could be one of the most exciting and closely contested ever.

The Laureus World Sports Awards, which recognise sporting achievement during the calendar year 2010, are the premier honours on the international sporting 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 at a televised Awards Ceremony staged in Abu Dhabi on Monday, Feb. 7.

Vonn, who earned her third consecutive World Cup overall title last season after winning an Olympic gold medal, will be up against three-time Laureus winner Serena Williams in the Laureus World Sportswoman of the Year Award category. Other nominees include two more tennis players, Belgium’s Kim Clijsters and Denmark’s world no. 1 Caroline Wozniacki and track athletes Jessica Ennis of Britain and Croatian high jump sensation Blanka Vlasic.

The men’s nominees include Spanish tennis star Rafael Nadal, German race car driver Sebastian Vettel, Philippino boxer Manny Pacquiao and, LA Lakers basketball star Kobe Bryant analog with Barcelona soccer players Andres Iniesta and Lionel Messi.

Also announce Feb. 7 will be awards for Team of Year, Breakthrough  Athlete of the Year Award, Comeback of the Year, Sportsperson of the Year with a Disability and Action Sports Award, for which American snowboarder Shaun White was nominated.
 
“This has been a great year for sport and the Academy are going to find it extremely difficult to decide who to vote for as winners,” said Laureus World Sports Academy Chairman Edwin Moses. “We have had several massive events in 2010 – notably the FIFA World Cup and the Winter Olympics and Paralympics, and that has been reflected in the Nominations. There has been a host of amazing individual and team performances and I congratulate all the Nominees and now we look forward to what should be a great Awards Ceremony next month in Abu Dhabi.”

Vonn has already collected two ESPY awards (Female Athlete of the Year and Female Olympic Athlete of the Year) and the Associated Press’s Female Athletes of the Year award along with several other esteemed accolades this year.

Image by Gepa.