POSTED: Wednesday May 27th 2009
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

LAUREUS ACADEMY MEMBERS SIR BOBBY CHARLTON, MARCEL DESAILLY AND ALBERTO TOMBA PRESENT LAUREUS SPORTSWOMAN AWARD TO YELENA ISINBAYEVA FOR SECOND TIME

Russia’s Yelena Isinbayeva is the winner of the Laureus World Sportswoman of the Year Award following her sensational gold medal winning performance in the Beijing Olympics.

•    ‘To win the Laureus Award again is a unique honour’ - says delighted Yelena


•    Laureus Academy member Sergey Bubka – Isinbayeva’s mentor - pays
tribute: ‘Yelena is a phenomenal athlete, she totally deserves this
second Laureus Award…who knows how far she can take the pole vault
event in the future?’


•    Pictures of Yelena Isinbayeva receiving Award on www.laureusarchive.com


•    Other Laureus Awards winners to be announced at presentation events in June



ROME, May 27, 2009 – Russia’s Yelena Isinbayeva, one of the
greatest female athletes in history, is the winner of the Laureus World
Sportswoman of the Year Award for the second time, following her
sensational gold medal winning performance in the Beijing Olympics.



Isinbayeva received the most prestigious Award in sport from
Laureus World Sports Academy members Sir Bobby Charlton, the England
football legend, Marcel Desailly, the former French football captain,
and Italian ski maestro Alberto Tomba, at a special presentation event
in Rome.



Not only is it her second Laureus Award – she also won in 2007 –
but it is the fifth straight year that the Russian pole vault super
star has been nominated.



Yelena Isinbayeva said: “It was a real thrill to win this Award two
years ago, but to have won it again is unbelievable. It really is a
unique honour. I would like to thank the members of the Laureus Academy
who voted for me again. They have all competed at the highest level and
know how much commitment is needed to stay at the top. I would
especially like to thank my coach Vitaliy Petrov and Sergey Bubka who
has been a great mentor to me over the years, and my management who
have helped me to win this Award.”



Laureus Academy member Sergey Bubka, the Ukraine pole vault legend
who was Isinbayeva’s inspiration at the start of her career, was unable
to be in Rome, but a message from him was read out during the
presentation. He said: “Yelena totally deserves this second Laureus
Award. She is a phenomenal athlete. From the time she set her first
world record six year ago, she has dominated women’s pole vaulting, and
made it one of the blue riband events in athletics. She was the first
woman to break the five metre barrier and has already improved the
world record 24 times. She still has many years of top class
competition to come. Who knows how far she can take the event in the
future?”



In Beijing, Isinbayeva cleared 5.05 metres – the 24th time she has
improved the world record – to win her second Olympic gold medal. It
was her ninth major championship career victory, which have included
Olympic, World outdoor and indoor and European outdoor and indoor
titles. Her dominance in athletics was acknowledged in November 2008
when she was named IAAF Female World Athlete of the Year for the third
time.



Also nominated along with Yelena Isinbayeva for the Laureus World
Sportswoman of the Year Award were Ethiopia’s Tirunesh Dibaba, who
became the first woman to win the 5,000 & 10,000 metres double at
the same Olympics, Australia’s Stephanie Rice, who won three swimming
gold medals in Beijing, Mexico’s Lorena Ochoa, the No.1 women’s golfer
in the world, and Americans Lindsey Vonn, who won the Alpine World Cup
title, and Venus Williams, who captured her fifth Wimbledon
championship.



The Laureus World Sports Awards is the only 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, a collection of the world’s
greatest sportsmen and women. The living legends of sport honouring the
great athletes of today. The 10th Laureus World Sports Awards recognise
sporting achievement during the period January 1, 2008 - December 31,
2008.



The winners of this year’s other Laureus World Sports Awards will
receive their Awards individually at a series of presentations and
announcements in June. Because of the current economic situation
Laureus and its partners have decided to forego the usual spring Awards
Ceremony. The key focus for Laureus during 2009 will be to support the
funding and activities of the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation. The
date of the next Laureus World Sports Awards Ceremony will be announced
in due course.



The Laureus 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 more than one million
young people.




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


Website: www.laureus.com


Photo Archive: For photos of Laureus events please visit www.laureusarchive.com   



A Video News Release (VNR) of the presentation will be available in
broadcast quality (MPEG2) download from the Laureus Media Portal from
16:30 local (GMT+2).



The VNR will contain: Interview with Yelena Isinbayeva on her reaction
to winning the Laureus / Coverage of the presentation / GVs of Rome and
venue / Footage of Yelena Isinbayeva training / Archive material of
Isinbayeva receiving the Laureus World Sportswoman of the Year Award
from Sergey Bubka (2007) / Archive material of Yelena Isinbayeva at the
2008 Laureus World Sports Awards in St Petersburg, with President
Vladimir Putin / Reactions of members of the Laureus World Sports
Academy.




Requests for access to this package should be made to latasha.jastrzebski@laureus.com. Details of the Media Portal will be sent by return mail.  For assistance please contact:


Latasha Jastrzebski


Laureus Production & Broadcast Services


Tel: +44 (0) 207 514 2869


Mob: +44 (0) 782 731 9157


Email: latasha.jastrzebski@laureus.com






The full list of nominees for the remaining 2009 Laureus World Sports Awards is:




Laureus World Sportsman of the Year


Usain Bolt (Jamaica) – first man to win 100m, 200m & 4x100m Olympic gold medals in world records


Lewis Hamilton (UK) - youngest ever Formula One World Champion at 23 years and 300 days


Rafael Nadal (Spain) – won French Open, Wimbledon & Olympic gold medal to become tennis No.1


Michael Phelps (US) – won eight gold medals in a single Olympiad to overtake Mark Spitz’s record


Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal) – FIFA World Player of the Year, scored 42 goals for Manchester United


Valentino Rossi (Italy) - beat Giacomo Agostini’s record 68 500cc wins, and won 6th senior world title




Laureus World Team of the Year


Boston Celtics (US) – beat Los Angeles Lakers to win the NBA play-offs for a record 17th time


China Olympic Team – best ever Olympic result, led medals table with 51 gold, 21 silver, 28 bronze


GB Olympic Cycle Team (UK) – dominated the Beijing velodrome with 8 gold, 4 silver, 2 bronze


Jamaica Olympic Sprint Team – beat US favourites for a near clean sweep of Olympic sprint medals


Manchester United (UK) - won third European Champions League and also English Premier League


Spain Football Team - won European Championship, their first major title for 44 years




Laureus World Breakthrough of the Year


Rebecca Adlington (UK) -  19, unknown at the start of the year, won Olympic 400m & 800m freestlye


Novak Djokovic (Serbia) – 21, won his first Grand Slam tennis title at the Australian Open


Ana Ivanovic (Serbia) – 20, won first Grand Slam at French Open, was tennis World No.1 for 9 weeks


Anthony Kim (US) – 23, won two US PGA events, and was star of US Ryder Cup win


Sebastian Vettel (Germany) – youngest ever F1 Grand Prix winner, at 21 years, 73 days, at Monza


Zou Kai (China) -  won three gymnastic gold medals in Beijing on his Olympic debut




Laureus World Comeback of the Year


Vitali Klitschko (Ukraine) – regained World Heavyweight Championship at 37 after four years out


Anna Meares (Australia) – won Olympic silver medal eight months after breaking neck in cycle crash


Greg Norman (Australia) – finished 3rd in British Open golf at the age of 53, while on his honeymoon


Matthias Steiner (Germany) – won weightlifting Olympic gold a year after his wife died in car crash


Maarten van der Weijden (Netherlands) - won Olympic swimming gold medal after beating leukaemia


Tiger Woods (US) - returned two months after serious knee injury to win US Open golf championship




Laureus World Sportsperson of the Year with a Disability


Daniel Dias (Brazil) – 20, leading swimmer at Paralympics with 4 gold, 4 silver and 1 bronze medals


April Holmes (US) – world’s fastest female amputee, won 100 metres at Paralympics


Darren Kenny (UK) – Paralympic cyclist who won 4 gold and 1 silver medals in Beijing.


Jonas Jacobsson (Sweden) – has won a shooting gold medal in the eight Paralympics since 1980


Teresa Perales (Spain) – won 3 gold, 1 silver and 2 bronze medals in Paralympic swimming


Zhang Lixin (China) - became the local hero in Beijing with four wheelchair racing gold medals




Laureus World Action Sportsperson of the Year


Julien Absalon (France) - became first man to defend Olympic cross-country mountain bike title


Stephanie Gilmore (Australia) - won surfing world title in rookie year 2007, and also 2008


Aaron Hadlow (UK) – 19, won PKRA kiteboarding world tour for fifth straight time


Tanner Hall (US) – now the most successful Winter X Games athlete ever with seven gold medals


Kelly Slater (US) - At 36, legendary surfing master Kelly Slater won his ninth world title


Shaun White (US) – snowboarder, won Winter X Games Superpipe and bronze Slopestyle






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
World Sports Awards and the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation - 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 more than 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.



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 have been voting to create a
shortlist of six nominations in five categories – 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 nominations for two additional
categories - the Laureus World Action Sportsperson of the Year and the
Laureus World Sportsperson of the Year with a Disability are produced
by Specialist Panels. The members of the Laureus World Sports Academy
then vote by secret ballot to select the Award winners in all seven
categories.



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 303 million proportionate customers and equity
interests in 27 countries across five continents and a further 40
partner networks worldwide, is supporting Laureus as a new 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 Award · Laureus Academy · Pole Vault · Yelena Isinbayeva · Laureus World Sports Academy · Sergey Bubka · IAAF Female World Athlete of the Year · Tirunesh Dibaba · Stephanie rice · Lorena Ochoa · Lindsey Vonn · Venus Williams

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

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