Bolt wins another sportsman of year award
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US Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps poses with his trophy during the 2013 Laureus World Sports Awards. Phelps said there was no chance of him coming out of retirement to compete at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics. "I'm done, I'm done," Phelps said after meeting children from Rio's Rocinha favela on the sidelines of the ceremony. Phelps, the most decorated Olympian of all time with 22 medals, retired from swimming after bagging four gold and two silver medals at last year's London Olympics. Sergio Moraes / Reuters |
Usain Bolt was honored as the sportsman of the year at the Laureus Sports Awards on Monday night, and Europe's Ryder Cup golfers were selected the best team.
Bolt won his third Laureus award after another dominant Olympic performance on the track at London, winning gold medals in the 100m and 200m and the 400m relay.
"This last season was a tough year," said Bolt, who also won the award in 2009 and 2010.
The European Ryder Cup team was honored for its comeback victory over the United States at Medinah.
British heptathlete Jessica Ennis was chosen the sportswoman of 2012, Andy Murray was selected the top breakthrough athlete, and Felix Sanchez the top comeback athlete.
Austrian Felix Baumgartner was the winner in the action category after becoming the first skydiver to go faster than the speed of sound. Brazil's Daniel Dias won the disability award.
Michael Phelps won a special Laureus Academy award as the most decorated Olympian ever with 18 gold, two silver and two bronze medals, and former Olympian and London Games organizer Sebastian Coe won the lifetime achievement award.
"The most honored and sincere awards that can ever be given are those by your peers," Coe said. "This is an extraordinary honor. You only have to look at the good people you are surrounded by."
The winners of the annual awards were chosen by nearly 50 members of the Laureus sports academy.
Bolt, who said through his video remarks that he will "definitely" be back in Rio for the 2016 Games, was contending against Phelps, Tour de France winner Bradley Wiggins, Formula One champion Sebastian Vettel, double Olympic champion Mo Farah and four-time FIFA world player of the year Lionel Messi, who scored a record 91 goals last year to cement his status as the world's top soccer player.
Novak Djokovic won the men's award last year and Rafael Nadal was the winner in 2011.
The European Ryder Cup team, captained by Jose Maria Olazabal and inspired by the late Seve Ballesteros, got the team honor. It trailed the US 10-6 entering the final day but pulled off a series of epic singles victories to win the trophy.
"This is truly special, it means an awful lot to us," Ian Poulter said in a recorded message.
Other nominees for the team award were the US Olympic basketball squad, the Spanish soccer team, the Miami Heat, Red Bull's Formula One team and the Chinese table tennis squad, which won all possible medals in London.
Ennis, one of the faces of the British track team that thrived in London, had a strong performance in the hepthlaton, beginning with an impressive win in the 100m hurdles.
"It's so surreal to stand here," Ennis said. "It's an incredible feeling."
She was contending with Americans Serena Williams, Lindsey Vonn, Missy Franklin and Allyson Felix, as well as Jamaican sprinter Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce. Vonn won the award in 2011.
