Five of the United States’ greatest sportswomen have been nominated for the 2013 Laureus World Sports Awards. Gabby Douglas, Allyson Felix, Missy Franklin, Lindsey Vonn and Serena Williams have all been shortlisted following a vote by the world’s media Legendary swimmer Michael Phelps, the most decorated Olympian of all time with a career total of 22 medals, has also been nominated, along with the Miami Heat and the US Men’s Olympic Basketball Team.
The Laureus World Sports Awards, which recognize sporting achievement during the calendar year 2012, are the premier honors 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 globally televised Awards Ceremony staged in Rio de Janeiro on March 11, 2013.
Proceeds from the Laureus World Sports Awards directly benefit and underpin the work of the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation, which supports more than 100 community sports projects around the world. Since its inception, Laureus has raised over 55 million Euros (approximately $72 million) for projects which have improved the lives of more than one-and-a-half million young people.
America’s golden girls dominate the Nominations for the Laureus World Sportswoman of the Year Award for 2013:
Allyson Felix, who won the 200 meters, 4 x 100 meters and 4 x 400 meters Olympic gold medals; Swimming sensation Missy Franklin, who at the age of 17, won four gold medals and a bronze; Serena Williams, who won Wimbledon, the US Open and Olympic gold medals in singles and doubles; and Lindsey Vonn, who won her fourth overall skiing World Cup in five years.
Michael Phelps, who won four gold and two silver medals in the London 2012 Olympic Games and became the first man ever to defend an Olympic title — 100-meter butterfly and 200-meter medley — at three Olympiads, is nominated for the Laureus World Sportsman of the Year Award.
In a great basketball double, the Miami Heat, who won their second NBA title, and the US Men’s Olympic Basketball Team, who won their 14th gold medal in London, are shortlisted as Laureus World Team of the Year. Olympic gymnast Gabby Douglas has been nominated for the Laureus Breakthrough of the Year Award.
Laureus Academy Member and swimming legend Mark Spitz said: “Michael Phelps is now recognized as the most accomplished Olympic athlete if you look at the medals he has won and the records he has achieved. He has a good chance of winning. And Missy Franklin is a favorite of mine. Her athletic achievements are incredible. She is young and she has a lot of potential for the future and such a positive attitude about how she takes her sport.” The Nominations were announced in Rio de Janeiro by Laureus World Sports Academy Chairman Edwin Moses and fellow Academy Member Emerson Fittipaldi, the legendary Brazilian Formula One driver. For more detailed biographies of Nominees go to www.laureus.com
