Swimmer Missy Franklin and F1 racer Sebastian Vettel walked away triumphant last night as they were crowned World Sportswoman and World Sportsman of the Year at the Laureus World Sports Awards in Istana Budaya.
American Franklin, nicknamed Missy the Missile and with an entire career still ahead of her at only 18 years of age, won her award due to her record six-gold medal sweep at the World Championships in Barcelona last year.
She beat out Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, Yelena Isinbayeva (athletics), Tina Maze (skiing), Nadine Angerer (football) and Serena Williams (tennis) for the honour.
Germany’s Sebastian Vettel became the youngest four-time Formula One world champion in the history of the sport last year.
With his win, Vettel came ahead of sprinters Usain Bolt and Mo Farah, LeBron James (basketball), Rafael Nadal (tennis), and Cristiano Ronaldo (football).
Top stars such as football legends Johan Cruyff, Ruud Gullit, Bobby Charlton, Eric Cantona, Christian Karembeu, Hidetoshi Nakata; F1 big names Niki Lauda, David Coulthard, Nico Rosberg; skate master Tony Hawk; sprint legend Michael Johnson were all present at the ceremony.
Top Malaysian athletes Nicol David (squash), Lee Chong Wei (badminton) and Pandelela Rinong (diving) were also present.
ROLL OF HONOUR
Sebastian Vettel (World Sportsman of the Year)
Missy Franklin (World Sportswoman of the Year)
Bayern Munich (World Team of the Year)
Marc Marquez (World Breakthrough of the Year)
Rafael Nadal (World Comeback of the Year)
Marie Bochet (World Sportsperson of the Year with a Disability)
Jamie Bestwick (World Action Sportsperson of the Year)
Afghanistan cricket team (Spirit of Sport Award)
Magic Bus (Sport for Good Award)
The Laureus World Sports Awards ceremony went ahead as planned in Istana Budaya, even as organizers toned down the event’s peripheral activities out of respect for the Flight MH370 tragedy affecting Malaysians. Similarly, the two-day Twin Towers @ Live concert at the KLCC Petronas Towers was cencelled.
See also: Benedict Cumberbatch is hosting the Laureus World Sports Awards in KL
Story: The Star Online
