Football icon Cristiano Ronaldo, tennis superstar Rafael Nadal and basketball player Le Bron James are among the nominees to be 2014 Laureus World Sports Awards Sportsman of the Year, organisers said on Wednesday.
Completing the list of nominees were Usain Bolt, dubbed the greatest sprinter of all time, Britain’s Mo Farah who established himself as one of the great long-distance runners, and Formula One world champion Sebastian Vettel.
Germany’s women’s football captain Nadine Angerer, US swimming sensation Missy Franklin, and Jamaican runner Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce lead the nominees for the Sportswoman of the Year.
Also nominated for Sportswomen of the Year are top Russian pole vaulter Yelena Isinbayeva, Slovenian skiing Olympic champion Tina Maze and American tennis star Serena Williams.
The 15th edition of the Laureus World Sports Awards — the sporting equivalent of the Nobel prize — will be held in Kuala Lumpur on March 26, the first time the event is being held in South East Asia.
