POSTED: Wednesday April 1st 2009
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Rebecca Adlington And Ana Ivanovic In Line For Nomination For Laureus Breakthrough Award

The names of the Nominees, and the venue and date of the 2009 Laureus World Sports Awards will be announced on April 16.

 

•    Chinese gymnast Zou Kai wins three gold medals in Olympic debut
•    Sebastian Vettel becomes youngest ever F1 Grand Prix winner
•    Ex-refugee Rohullah Nikpai wins Afghanistan’s first Olympic medal
•    Nominees, venue & date for 2009 Laureus World Sports Awards to be announced on April 16
•    Laureus Media Selection Panel to vote for six nominees

LONDON, April 1, 2009 – Two young women who made a major impact on sport during 2008 are among the favourites to be nominated for the 2009 Laureus World Breakthrough of the Year Award.

Britain’s 19-year-old swimmer Rebecca Adlington made the headlines when she won two Olympic gold medals in the 400 and 800 metres freestyle in Beijing, where she broke one of the oldest records in sport at the longer distance, beating the August 1989 time of American Janet Evans by more than two seconds. And young Serbian newcomer Ana Ivanovic won her first Grand Slam tennis tournament at the age of 20, when she beat Dinara Safina to take the French Open, a success which lifted her to the World No 1 ranking, a position she held for nine consecutive weeks.

The tenth Laureus World Sports Awards, which recognise sporting achievement during the calendar year 2008, are widely acknowledged as the premier honours on the international sporting calendar. The names of the Nominees, and the venue and date of the 2009 Laureus World Sports Awards will be announced on April 16.

There will be six nominees named in the Laureus World Breakthrough of the Year category after a vote by the world’s media and there are many strong candidates after a thrilling year of sport.

On his Olympic debut, gymnast Zou Kai, 20, became only the second Chinese man to win three gold medals at a single Olympiad when he won the floor exercise and the horizontal bar, as well as being a member of the overall gold medal winning Chinese team in Beijing. Zou Kai, who is a Sichuan native, said he would auction his gold medal for floor exercises for relief funds for the Sichuan Earthquake.

Germany’s Sebastian Vettel became the youngest ever winner in Formula One, at the age of 21 years and 73 days, with his victory in the Italian Grand Prix at Monza in September. In one of the biggest surprises in Formula One history, it was also the first ever win for the Toro Rosso team. Vettel beat the previous record of Spain’s Fernando Alonso who won the 2003 Hungarian Grand Prix at 22 years and 26 days.

Serbia’s Novak Djokovic, like Ana Ivanovic, won his first ever Grand Slam tennis title in 2008, beating Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the final of the Australian Open. He also beat the then World No.1 Roger Federer in straight sets in the semi-final. The victory meant the 21-year-old became the first player representing Serbia to win a Grand Slam singles title. He also won the bronze medal in the Olympics in August.

In golf, American Anthony Kim, 23, proved an exciting addition to the US PGA Tour. In May 2008, he won his first Tour event in the Wachovia Championship, with a 16-under-par, 272 total, the lowest score in the tournament\‘s history. In July, he won his second tournament, the AT&T National, where he shot a five-under-par 65 in the final round for victory. In September, he played an important part in the US victory in the Ryder Cup, famously beating Sergio Garcia 5&4 in the first match of the singles.

Colombia’s Camilo Villegas, 26, made his breakthrough as a winner on the US PGA Tour in 2008 when he won twice, first in the BMW Championship in September, then he followed this up by beating Sergio Garcia in a play-off to win the US Tour Championship. He finished the year as World No.7.

Rohullah Nikpai, the 21-year-old taekwondo athlete, defeated world champion Juan Antonio Ramos of Spain in Beijing to win Afghanistan’s first ever Olympic medal – a bronze in the 58kg division. Nikpai had started his training in Kabul at the age of 10. During the conflict, he and his family settled in one of Iran\‘s many Afghan refugee camps. He soon became a member of the Afghan refugee taekwondo team. He returned to Kabul in 2004 and continued his training at the Government Olympic training facility.

Abhinav Bindra, 25, gave India its first ever individual Olympic gold medal when he won the 10 metres air rifle shooting event in Beijing. He finished with an overall score of 700.5 in a thrilling finale which went right down to the last shot. India\‘s last gold medal at an Olympics came in 1980 when the hockey team won in Moscow.

Benjamin Boukpeti, 27, won Togo’s first ever Olympic medal, when he took the bronze in the men\‘s single kayak slalom in Beijing - though he has only been to Togo once in his life and represented France as a junior. Boukpeti was so excited he snapped his paddle in half during the celebrations. Boukpeti was born in Lagny, France, but has a Togolese father. He lives in Toulouse, trains with the French team and has received coaching from the South Africans.

The Sri Lankan spin bowler Ajantha Mendis, 23, was named International Cricket Council Emerging Player of the Year after a remarkable debut season. In the Asia Cup in July, he took 6 for 13 against India in just his eighth One Day International and was named Man of the Series after taking 17 wickets. He followed this up in the Test series against India with eight wickets in the First Test, finishing with a total of 26 wickets in the series.

Double Olympic gold medallist Edwin Moses, Chairman of the Laureus World Sports Academy, said: “The Beijing Olympics has thrown up some superb performances this year. At the summit you have to congratulate Rebecca Adlington and Zou Kai who made their breakthroughs in the most dramatic way possible. But we should also remember the achievements of some of the lesser known athletes, for example those winning medals for their countries for the first time, for whom the success is no less signifcant, and just as satisfying. All in all 2008 has been a vintage year for sport.”

There is a two-part voting process to find the winners of the Laureus World Sports Awards. Firstly, a Selection Panel of the world’s leading sports editors, writers and broadcasters from over 120 countries votes to create a shortlist of six nominations in various categories including Laureus World Sportsman of the Year, Laureus World Sportswoman of the Year, Laureus World Team of the Year, Laureus World Breakthrough of the Year and Laureus World Comeback of the Year.

The members of the Laureus World Sports Academy then vote by secret ballot to select the Award winners. The Laureus Academy is the ultimate sports jury, made up of 46 of the greatest sportsmen and sportswomen of all time, who have made an outstanding contribution to world sport.

The Laureus Academy members also vote for the Laureus World Sportsperson of the Year with a Disability and the Laureus World Action Sportsperson of the Year, the nominations for which are made by specialist panels.

The 2008 Awards Ceremony in St.Petersburg, held in the presence of Russian President Vladimir Putin, was attended by global figures from sport, entertainment, business and fashion. In addition to members of the Laureus World Sports Academy, among the guests present were Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone, England football coach Fabio Capello, Russian swimming star Alexander Popov, Paralympic ‘Blade Runner’ Oscar Pistorius and Tour De France winner Alberto Contador. From the world of entertainment there was Kim Catrall, Cuba Gooding Jnr, Dennis Hopper and Kyle MacLachlan. Among the legends of sport who were present to receive Awards were tennis legends Roger Federer and Justine Henin, British racing driver Lewis Hamiton, wheelchair tennis star Esther Vergeer and members of the South African team, which won the Rugby World Cup.

For further information please contact:

Mal Thompson
Laureus Global Communications
Tel: +44 (0)20 7514 2749
Fax: +44 (0)20 7514 2782
Email: publicrelations@laureus.com
Photo Archive: www.laureusarchive.com
Website: www.laureus.com

For photos of Laureus events please visit www.laureusarchive.com
NB: Information correct at time of going to press

NOTES TO EDITORS

The Patron of Laureus is Nelson Mandela. At the inaugural Laureus World Sports Awards in 2000, President Mandela said: “Sport has the power to change the world. It has the power to inspire. It has the power to unite people in a way that little else does. Sport can awaken hope where there was previously only despair.” This has become the philosophy of Laureus; the driving force behind its work.

Laureus is a universal movement that celebrates the power of sport to bring people together as a force for good. Laureus is composed of three core elements - the Laureus World Sports Academy, the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation and the Laureus World Sports Awards - which collectively celebrate sporting excellence and harness the power of sport to promote social change.

The members of the Laureus World Sports Academy are: Giacomo Agostini, Marcus Allen, Severiano Ballesteros, Franz Beckenbauer, Boris Becker, Ian Botham, Sergey Bubka, Bobby Charlton, Sebastian Coe, Nadia Comaneci, Yaping Deng, Marcel Desailly, Kapil Dev, David Douillet, Emerson Fittipaldi, Sean Fitzpatrick, Dawn Fraser, Cathy Freeman, Tanni Grey-Thompson, Marvelous Marvin Hagler, Mika Häkkinen, Tony Hawk, Mike Horn, Miguel Indurain, Michael Johnson, Kip Keino, Franz Klammer, Dan Marino, John McEnroe, Edwin Moses (Chairman), Nawal El Moutawakel, Robby Naish, Ilie Nastase, Martina Navratilova, Alexei Nemov, Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player, Morné du Plessis, Hugo Porta, Vivian Richards, Monica Seles, Mark Spitz, Daley Thompson, Alberto Tomba, Steve Waugh and Katarina Witt.

The Laureus Academy members volunteer their services as global ambassadors for the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation, which was set up to promote the use of sport as a tool for social change. The Foundation addresses social challenges through a worldwide programme of sports related community development initiatives. Since its inception Laureus has raised €20 million for projects which have helped improve the lives of over one million young people. The Foundation addresses issues in particular involving, but not limited to, young people impacted by social exclusion, gun and gang violence, discrimination, community integration, peace and reconciliation, and education.

The Laureus World Sports Awards is the premier global sports awards honouring the greatest sportsmen and women across all sports each year. The winners are selected by the ultimate sports jury - the 46 members of the Laureus World Sports Academy, the living legends of sport honouring the great athletes of today. The Awards are presented at an annual Awards Ceremony, attended by global figures from sport and entertainment, which is broadcast to 180 countries.

Laureus was founded by its Patrons Daimler and Richemont and is supported by its Global Partners Mercedes-Benz, IWC Schaffhausen and Vodafone.

Mercedes-Benz
Mercedes-Benz, the world’s oldest automaker, can look back on a unique tradition. The premium brand stands for modern, innovative automobiles, for quality, safety, comfort and design. Mercedes-Benz enjoys an excellent reputation, particularly in the area of safety technology. Many pioneering technical innovations that are standard automotive features today were first seen in a Mercedes-Benz car. The car with the star also has an excellent reputation with regard to quality, value for money and customer satisfaction. Mercedes-Benz is a Global Partner of the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation. Since the beginning of the Foundations’ operations in 2000, Mercedes-Benz has shared and supported the goals and values of this worldwide charity programme where sports play the core role in the fight against social issues - Laureus has become a vital element of the corporate social responsibility programme of Mercedes-Benz.

IWC Schaffhausen
For more than a century, IWC Schaffhausen has been producing precision products of complex functionality and outstanding user-friendliness for watch connoisseurs who expect more from their watch than just having an accurate timekeeper. Since its foundation in 1868, the International Watch Company has built up a reputation as a long-established Swiss watchmaking firm with a passion for inventions, innovative solutions and technical refinements. Today the brand is more successful than at any time in its history. IWC uses this strength in a programme of corporate social responsibility initiatives at home and abroad. In 2005, IWC entered into a long-term commitment to become a Global Partner of the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation.

Vodafone
Vodafone, the world\‘s leading international mobile communications group, with over 280 million proportionate customers and equity interests in 27 countries across five continents and a further 40 partner networks worldwide, is supporting Laureus as a Global Partner, with a five year agreement which began in 2008 and concludes in 2012. Vodafone is a long-standing supporter of sport sponsorship and is pleased to be part of an organisation that celebrates sporting excellence both at a grass roots level through the humanitarian work worldwide of the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation and at elite level through the annual Laureus World Sports Awards, which honours the achievements of the greatest sportsmen and sportswomen.

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Keywords · Laureus Foundation · Zou Kai · Sebastian Vettel · Rohullah Nikpai · 2009 Laureus World Sports Awards

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Name: Mal Thompson
Organization: Laureus Foundation
Email:
Phone: +44 (0) 20 7514 2749
URL: http://www.laureus.com/

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