Laureus World Sports Awards 2012 on Sky1 HD

February 9, 2012   ·   0 Comments

The winners of the 2012 Laureus World Sports Awards were unveiled on 6 February, and the ceremony will be screened on Sky1 HD on Thursday 9 February at 10pm. 

The Laureus World Sports Awards are the premier honours on the international sporting calendar.   The winners are chosen by the Laureus World Sports Academy, the ultimate sports jury, made up of 47 of the greatest sportsmen and sportswomen of all time.

Award winners this year included Serbia’s Novak Djokovic who was acclaimed Laureus World Sportsman of the Year after his remarkable 2011 when he won three Grand Slam events – the Australian Open, Wimbledon and the US Open – and took away the tennis world No 1 ranking from Rafael Nadal.

The Laureus Sportswoman of the Year Award went to Kenya’s extraordinary distance runner Vivian Cheruiyot, who won both 5,000 and 10,000 metres gold medals at the World Championships in Daegu.

Winners of the Champions League and the Spanish League in the 2010/11 season, under coach Pep Guardiola, FC Barcelona won the Laureus World Team of the Year Award.

Northern Ireland golf celebrated two Awards. Brilliant young star Rory McIlroy, 22, (pictured left) was named winner of the Laureus World Breakthrough of the Year Award after winning the US Open, his first Major Championship, while Darren Clarke received the Laureus Comeback Award after his Open Championship victory at Royal St.George’s at his 20th attempt and at the age of 42.

American surfing giant Kelly Slater was named Laureus Action Sportsperson of the Year. It was his fourth Laureus Award, equalling the record of Roger Federer, the only other four-time winner.

South Africa’s Oscar Pistorius, dubbed the ‘Blade Runner’ because he uses carbon fibre blades, was presented with the Laureus Disability Award, after becoming the first amputee to win a track medal in the non-disabled World Championships, a silver in the 4 x 400 metres relay.

England football legend Bobby Charlton was awarded the Laureus Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of his remarkable career. Former Brazilian international footballer Raí, now a campaigner for social justice, won the Laureus Sport for Good Award.

The Laureus World Sports Awards, which recognise sporting achievement during 2011, were announced at the Awards Ceremony at Central Hall, Westminster, which was hosted by Academy Award nominated and Golden Globe winner Clive Owen and attended by guests from the worlds of sport and entertainment.

The members of the Laureus World Sports Academy present were: Giacomo Agostini, Boris Becker, Sergey Bubka, Nadia Comaneci, Marcel Desailly, Kapil Dev, Mick Doohan, Emerson Fittipaldi, Sean Fitzpatrick, Dawn Fraser, Tanni Grey-Thompson, Tony Hawk, Mike Horn, Miguel Indurain, Kip Keino, Franz Klammer, Edwin Moses, Nawal El Moutawakel, Robby Naish, Ilie Nastase, Martina Navratilova, Alexey Nemov, Gary Player, Morné du Plessis, Hugo Porta, Steve Redgrave, Monica Seles, Mark Spitz, Daley Thompson, Alberto Tomba, Steve Waugh and Katarina Witt.

Other sports guests included:  Schalk Burger Jr, Paul Collingwood, David Coulthard, Johan Cruyff, Lawrence Dallaglio, Daniel Dias, Cadel Evans, Alex Ferguson, Ruud Gullit, Gavin Hastings, Tim Henman, Kelly Holmes, Petra Kvitova, Lennox Lewis, Barry McGuigan, Matthew Pinsent, Oscar Pistorius, Alan Shearer, Edwin van der Sar, Esther Vergeer, Patrick Vieira, Andre Villas-Boas and Arsene Wenger.

Proceeds from the Laureus World Sports Awards directly benefit and underpin the work of the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation, which supports 91 community sports projects in 34 countries around the world, including five in London. Since its inception, Laureus has raised €40 million for projects which have improved the lives of more than one-and-a-half million young people.

The 2012 Laureus Award winners were:

Laureus World Sportsman of the Year: Novak Djokovic

Laureus World Sportswoman of the Year: Vivian Cheruiyot

Laureus World Team of the Year: FC Barcelona

Laureus World Breakthrough of the Year: Rory McIlroy

Laureus World Comeback of the Year: Darren Clarke

Laureus World Sportsperson of the Year with a Disability: Oscar Pistorius

Laureus World Action Sportsperson of the Year: Kelly Slater

The Laureus World Sports Awards will be broadcast on Sky1 HD on Thursday 9 February at 10pm and repeated on Sky2 at 11.30pm on Saturday 11 February.

Tags: Darren Clarke, FC Barcelona, Kelly Slater, Laureus, Laureus World Sport Awards, Novak Djokovic, Oscar Pistorius, Rory McIlroy, Vivian Cheruiyot