General

LONDON, February 6, 2012 - British Prime Minister David Cameron was presented with a special edition of the prestigious Laureus Statuette as he welcomed a unique collection of the most famous names in the world of sport, past and present, to a reception at No 10 Downing Street ahead of the Laureus World Sports Awards.

The state rooms of one of the most historic addresses in the world were alive with Olympic and Paralympic gold medal winners, World Cup winners, Grand Slam winners and world record holders, just hours before the Laureus Awards Ceremony began at Central Hall, Westminster.

Laureus Chairman Edwin Moses presented Mr Cameron with the Laureus Statuette, which is presented to all winners of Laureus Awards and which will now be on display at 10 Downing Street.

At the reception, Mr Cameron also announced the launch of the Sport is GREAT campaign, part of the Government's drive to promote Britain abroad in the run up to the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Laureus is the first partner to support the sport component of the campaign which celebrates the rich history, culture and ongoing legacy of sport in Britain.

The Prime Minister said: "2012 is a GREAT year for this country. It is fantastic to have Laureus here as our partner, celebrating our sporting history, culture and traditions, and recognising the inspirational power of sport as excitement builds towards the London 2012 Olympic Games."

Edwin Moses added: "It was a great honour for the Academy Members, Nominees and Guests to go to 10 Downing Street and meet the Prime Minister. Laureus is founded on a belief in the inspirational power of sport and we have seen how it can transform lives all over the world and right here in the UK. For over ten years, we have been supporting grassroots sporting programmes across the UK that are supporting young people in situations of extreme hardship and deprivation.  In 2009, the Prime Minister joined my fellow Academy Member Daley Thompson on a cycle ride to visit some of these projects and raise awareness about how sport can be used to tackle the underlying causes of gun and knife crime. We are delighted to be back at No.10 to celebrate the power of sport and support the Government campaign highlighting the great sporting attributes of Great Britain."

Throughout 2012, partners will take it in turns to be guest editors of the GREAT Facebook Hub, and currently Laureus is in the editor's chair. This can be viewed at www.facebook.com/ThisisGREATBritain.

LONDON, February 5, 2012 - Super model Bar Rafaeli and tennis legend Boris Becker chose the heart of London on the eve of the Laureus World Sports Awards to unveil a new polo shirt designed by fashion house Shanghai Tang in support for the mission to use sport as a tool for social change and to help improve the lives of children around the world.

The elegant polo shirt, in dark blue or orange, carrying the Laureus name and the bold number ‘1', will be worn by members of the Laureus World Sports Academy, a unique collection of 47 of the greatest sportsmen and women in the world. Chinese characters on the back of the shirt spell 'Laureus' in Chinese.

The new shirt was launched in the shadow of world-famous Big Ben and overlooking Parliament Square, at Central Hall, Westminster, where the Laureus Awards Ceremony will be held tomorrow evening (February 6).

Three-time Wimbledon winner Boris Becker said: "This is an extremely cool fashion item with a wonderful humanitarian purpose. On behalf of Laureus, I would like to thank Shanghai Tang for producing this shirt and for their generosity in helping the Laureus Foundation to fund its work."

Laureus Academy Members, including Boris, Bobby Charlton, Sebastian Coe, Nadia Comaneci, Michael Johnson, Martina Navratilova and Gary Player, volunteer their time to work for the charitable Laureus Sport for Good Foundation which supports sports-based projects which have helped more than one-and-a-half million young people since 2000.

The shirt is available for purchase online at www.shanghaitang.com and at Shanghai Tang boutiques in New York, Las Vegas, London, Singapore, Frankfurt, Moscow, Hong Kong and selected Chinese stores. Part of the proceeds will be donated to the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation.

Since its inception in 1994, Shanghai Tang has been the pioneering luxury lifestyle brand from China. With its mission as the global ambassador of contemporary Chinese Chic, Shanghai Tang interprets Chinese culture and craftsmanship with vibrant sophistication. Offering ready-to-wear for women, men and children, as well as accessories and home ware, Shanghai Tang supports an international network of 45 boutiques in the world's most prestigious shopping districts.

INTERVIEW WITH OSCAR PISTORIUS in ROME EDITED TRANSCRIPT - January 7, 2012

Material on the Laureus website is available for print media use free of charge provided full credit is given, for example....'Oscar Pistorius speaking to the Laureus website, www.laureus.com'

 

Question:

Can you tell us why you are in Italy at the moment?

 

Oscar Pistorius

Over the last couple of years I have been very blessed to spend quite a bit of time in Italy.  In 2007, I had my first international race a couple of kilometres down the road here in Rome and since then we've run a couple of races during the European season here.  Our training camps are always held here, we've been in Grosetto for two seasons and this last year we were based up in Germona and we'll probably be based there for another two years.  So the whole Italian way has become a bit of a second home away from home and it's a blessed place to be. The climate's great for competing and for running and the people are very crazy about sports and about track and field, so it seems to be quite a good place for us to be based.

 

Question:

You've adopted some of that Italian sporting culture. You support Lazio, is that right?

 

Oscar Pistorius

Yeah, I support Lazio. I've got a good friend in South Africa whose family come from Rome and as a teenager on the weekends, I used to sit at his house and watch football with him and his family. You obviously pick up a lot of flak for supporting a team like Lazio, but it's more of a culture than anything else and it's a true blessing just to be able to be part of the followings here and the passion that they have for things like football.

 

Question:

But you're now involved in a different kind of sporting passion. You are here competing in Dancing with the Stars.  Can you tell us about that?

 

Oscar Pistorius

We arrived yesterday and we're actually shooting live tonight, so it's a very nerve racking thing considering I've never danced before.  So last night we had a couple of hours of rehearsals and luckily for me I've got a very good dance instructor, who's extremely patient, but yeah, doing that tonight, never danced in my life, [I'm] very very nervous, it's completely out of my comfort zone but I think we're going to have a good time and we're doing the tango so it's a little more loose-footed, but I think it will be a lot of fun.

 

Question:

How would you compare it to running in competition?

 

Oscar Pistorius

You know, dancing is extremely, extremely technical.  Running is technical, but when it's come over years and years of doing the same motions, constantly, I think it's something that I'm a lot more accustomed to.  I can focus just on the physical performance and running, whereas dancing is very physical, but it's an extreme

art form and it's very technical, so I find it a lot more challenging, especially to remember the different moves. You know, it's not just the foot placements but the actual timing that's extremely important. Luckily for me we've got a couple more hours rehearsal before tonight's performance.

 

Question:

It's obviously a sign of your growing fame and celebrity status that you're involved in an event like this.  Can you tell us about how that feels?

 

Oscar Pistorius

As sportsmen go through their career, their visibility sometimes gets better and better.  I'm very lucky that I've got a phenomenal coaching staff and management staff [and] they keep me quite grounded and my priority's always on track, it's by far the biggest priority in my life, so we can fit things in like this. It's always a good laugh and a lot of fun, but ultimately the track is the thing that keeps me most intrigued and it's where I need to really perform. I wouldn't say that the fame is something that I've necessarily enjoyed over the last couple of years. I really enjoy running and I understand that [fame is] part of the game, but it's something that takes a long time to get used to and, I think, it'll still take a couple of years for me.

 

Question:

After last year and particularly the World Championships in Daegu, do you feel there's more people aware of you. Are you recognised more in the street?

 

Oscar Pistorius

Yeah, I think my reactions are still very mixed.  I often wear jeans or long pants and I'll pitch up for a meeting where I'm expected and people won't even notice it's me. They say "Oh, where's Oscar, you know, why is he late?" and I'll lift my hand and sometimes it take people aback.Then, often, after training, I'll pop into the supermarket just to get dinner and I'll be wearing my athletics clothes and then I'm obviously very recognisable having prosthetic legs.  I often get kids coming and staring at my legs and I always explain to them about my prosthetic legs.  Often parents tell them to stop staring, but they don't explain to them the notion of having a disability.  So I always go up to the child and tell them that I lost my legs ‘cause of a shark' or something really cool, or I didn't eat my vegetables and that always goes down quite well. I think this last season's been very blessed and the running of the World Championships in Daegu obviously it raised my profile quite a bit, but ultimately we had three weeks [break] after last year and we went straight back into training.  So I haven't really had much time to dwell on last year and we're already back in for this year and 2012's training.

 

Question:

Can you tell me a little bit about the emotion of Daegu? 

 

Oscar Pistorius

I think Daegu was a phenomenal experience. I always said going into the season that I'd like to qualify for the IAAF World Championships to gain an experience that I really think I need for London's Games this year.  I've never participated before in a multi-international 400 metre event, so it was very stressful in a way, having to go through all the rounds to get to a semi-final. It was quite tough to stay focused. Physically, you're always prepared for a race like that, but getting there and being mentally prepared is completely different.  So, I think my lack of experience definitely showed in the competition. I ran slower in the semi-final than I did in one of the heats, but I think ultimately I'll look back at the whole experience very fondly.  It was something that I learnt a lot from and I had a lot of fun.  It was really high end, quality competition. The athletes were tremendous to run against.  It was a big learning curve for me.

 

Question:

Was this always a goal of yours to try and compete in the non-disabled sporting world? 

 

Oscar Pistorius

Yeah. Growing up I always participated in mainstream sports.  I went to school with my brother and sister and participated in conventional non-disabled sports, if you can call it that, and in 2004 I actually had my first competition for athletes with disabilities.  So it's just been a transformation from going from doing sports at a school level to a provincial state level to a national level. Every year has just been about improving my times really, whatever platform it's on. It's just about running the best race possible.

 

Question:

2011 was the first time in seven years you lost a 100 metre race. Was that a good thing?  Has it whetted your appetite?

 

Oscar Pistorius

Yeah, it's a great thing to lose a race every now and again, although I'm a very sore loser to be honest and that race was quite difficult. We had the IPC World Championships in Christchurch and I lost the 100 metre race for the first time in seven years against an American athlete, Jerome Singleton.  He's a tremendous athlete. We've actually faced off against each other, four times in the last four

years and every time I've beaten him, it has been below 200th of a second.  [This time] he dipped me on the line for 2,000th of a second now and he won. I think that's the beauty of Paralympic sports, is it's so close. 100 metres is definitely one of the events that I'm going to struggle with at the London Paralympic Games, it's a very very close event.....you know, if you have one foot placing that goes off, or you're not explosive enough on the start, or your driving phase on the first 30 metres isn't good enough, you're not going to cut it by the end of that 100 metres.  So, it's very exciting and very nerve racking and losing a race, I think, makes me a bit more hungry coming into this year.

 

Question:

Which of your events would you regard as your No 1?  Your specialist event?

 

Oscar Pistorius

The 400m is definitely my strongest event, that's the one that I'm focused on and I train, you know, 90% of the year for.  When we get to big competitions like the BT Paralympic World Cup in Manchester or races like the Paralympics, the focus does shift a bit to some of the shorter events to get the speed work up there and explosivitiy, but it's very difficult going from a 400m where speed endurance is key, down to the sprinting event where power is the No 1 priority.  So you've got a couple of weeks usually to shift a bit of training and focus, but ultimately the 400m is, I'd say, my strongest event, where the 200m is my favourite and the 100m is definitely the showcase event, but the one that I struggle with the most.

 

Question:

Everyone assumes that you're going to be at the London Olympic Games, but you've still got to get a qualifying time, haven't you?

 

Oscar Pistorius

Yeah, now the London Olympics is still a fair, fair grasp away.  We've got six months to go. There's two standards, the A and B.  I run, I think, seven B qualification times.  If I run two or more B qualification times, it's up to my Federation to choose me. If I run two A qualification times, it's kind of like an automatic qualification. So my goal would be to run an A qualification time somewhere during the period between March to the cut off date, which I think is the end of June.

 

Question:

And do you have a schedule? Have you picked the event that you're going to go and get this time?

 

Oscar Pistorius

In the athletics world, we don't usually pick a certain race to run a time, but we've got a good indication of several events.  Obviously, weather plays a huge part and sometimes you wake up on the day and you feel really good.  Track surfaces are very important as well, so we've singled out a couple of races I'd like to run in.....so it's a bit of stress, but there are some really good races that I'm hoping to, to run in this year.  One or two are already confirmed and, and they're a couple of

others that I need to look at. 

 

Question:

You have run times before that should allow you to be confident about getting this qualifying time, but is there pressure on you or are you relaxed?

 

Oscar Pistorius

I'd say I've run the B. The A qualification time is 45.3.  I've run 45.07 which is well in the A qualification standard.  I've also run several times that are very close to the time of 45.3 and then I've run the B standard which is 45.75.  I've run maybe eight times underneath that, so I am very confident, but I think although I'm optimistic, I'm also a realist and there's a lot of hard work that's got to go in, in the next two three months for pre-season.  My weight is looking very good which is important for me and with that, you know, training is a lot easier when you're in the right shape.  So, I'm very confident. I've got the right team, I've had the same coach for eight years and the same gym personnel for going on four seasons now.  So, I've got a lot of faith in them and I know that they've got a lot of faith in me and we work well together.

 

Question:

What would competing in the Olympic Games in London mean to you?

 

Oscar Pistorius

It would just be extremely special, I've been since 2005 really working on my times, I tried to quality for the 2008 Olympics and missed it by under a quarter of a second, which was extremely frustrating at the time.  I really don't want to let it slip through my fingers again. It's very difficult to try and explain it. I think it's like working for a promotion for six or seven years consistently and then finally being able to get it. It will just be a huge sense of accomplishment. I mean, everything I do in track I try and do better than any of my competitors. I try to train harder, I try to dart better, I try rest and recovery in ways, in research ways of trying to do all of those, that's really what gives me the confidence that at the end of the training day and the end of training week I can look back and try and believe that I can honestly say to myself that I've tried to train within the top 5% of my competitors.  So, being able to put years of that mentality together for a couple of days is definitely a very difficult thing to try and describe but it will be by far one the highlights of my life.

 

Question:

Do you think these Olympics in London are going to be very special?

 

Oscar Pistorius

I think ‘very special' is definitely an understatement to try and describe how amazing the Olympics and the Paralympics is going to be in London.  Coming from a country [South Africa] where we've hosted the Rugby World Cup, we've hosted the Football World Cup and the Cricket World Cup, I've seen firsthand how huge a sporting event can [be] for a country and how it can just bring everybody together.  Sport is definitely the only thing in the world which transcends all boundaries, it just brings a common interest that people have and makes them closer....I've competed quite a bit in UK and in London and I've seen the excitement that there's been for sport, I think nobody's fully aware of how amazing the Olympics and Paralympic Games are going to be in London.

 

Question:

Have you seen Olympic Park in London? 

 

Oscar Pistorius

I have.  I've been to the Olympic Park.  It's absolutely amazing.  I actually had a bit of a quiet moment there, got to sit up in the grandstand and just look out on the track and try and envision. When I was there, it was about 500 days out and I'm sure a lot has changed since then, but it's extremely exciting. It's a bit of an intimidating stadium, it's very big and I think the energy that we're going to get as athletes competing is going to be tremendous. You know the work that Lord Coe has done to organise an event like that and the facilities that they've prepared, you know, the athletes just have to bring their A game now and that makes it a lot more exciting.

 

Question:

The British public really will engage won't they with this event?

 

Oscar Pistorius

It's amazing, I've seen, whether it be on Twitter or reading in the press, you see people's excitement, if they've just got tickets or proof of tickets and they are so excited to watch this and this event and I think that's really what it's about, you know, that public interest.  I am very excited for people to go and watch the Paralympics in a way, because there's sports there that aren't mainstream sports that people will be seeing for the first time.  Sitting volleyball is one of the sports that I actually enjoy watching the most and I think it's really going to open people's perception to the word competition in a different means that we've never experienced before.  So, It's very very exciting seeing that and, you know, we're still six months out, so I'm sure with the time, it's just going get more and more exciting.

 

Question:

As a competitor, what are the challenges for doing the Olympics AND the Paralympics?

 

Oscar Pistorius

You know, the challenge of doing both the Olympic and Paralympic games is pretty tremendous.  Being able to stay on peak and qualify, you know, a month or two months out before the Olympics and then still maintain the high level of competition for the Paralympics is going to be very demanding.  With that said, this season I ran very quick times in March and I was able to maintain it until September, so my coach has done a phenomenal job of getting me quick. I think the most challenging part is going to be after the Olympics, the three weeks that I have leading up to the Paralympics to get my speed work back up to, for the 100 metres, that for me is probably my biggest worry and then obviously, weather conditions when you're doing speed work in the rain it sometimes becomes a bit of a disaster, so we'll just see what happens. 

 

Question:

You have achieved quite a remarkable double this year by being nominated for two Laureus Awards - the Breakthrough of the Year Award and the Disability Award - what does that mean to you?

 

Oscar Pistorius

Being nominated for Breakthrough and Athlete with a Disability is extremely important to me.  Obviously, it's pretty humbling, I guess, if you consider that it's the world's media that, you know, nominate through the first round so it's very humbling.  I've been to the Laureus Awards and seen the scale that it's been held on several times, and it's just a completely amazing experience.

 

Question:

Does it make a difference that the people who are voting, the 47 members of the Academy, have all been there and done it?

 

Oscar Pistorius

It makes it a lot more meaningful that the 47 Laureus Academy Members are the ones that are choosing the winners.  These are all sportsmen that have been probably the greatest in their, in their careers, in their fields of play. It's always a lot more, for me, the weight that somebody like that carries is a lot more than, than somebody that's just a critic.......these are icons in their sports and legends and it's really humbling.

 

Question:

Could you have ever imagined for an Award you would be up against Yohan Blake, Mo Farah, Petra Kvitova, the Wimbledon Champion, Rory McIlroy, US Open golf champion, Li Na, who won the French Open tennis?

 

Oscar Pistorius

Yeah, I think if you look at the nature of the sportsmen that I'm competing with in this, in this field, I'm just extremely privileged just to be considered a part of them.  I mean, I watched Yohan Blake's race at the World Champsionships. You know, I'm an avid golf fan, so I've watched all the guys playing throughout the year, the guys that

have been nominated. It's hard to think that my name is up there amongst theirs.

 

Question:

And good for Paralympic sport that a Paralympic sportsman is in this category with people who are competing in non-Paralympic sport?

 

Oscar Pistorius

If I look how the difference is between 2004 in Athens and 2008 in Beijing, how the transformation and education surrounding disability to the general public has changed and then from 2008 to now in London, I'm sure it's going to be even more.  London's probably one of the most international cities in the world and I  think the platform that the Paralympics has there to show the world that Paralympic sports is just like any other sport, you know.  Yes, it's inspirational, but it's hardcore sports, it's athletes training year in and year out.  There's victories, there's triumph but there's also disappointment. I think Paralympic sports have come an extremely long way and I'm excited to see that international people that have never been exposed to Paralympic sports, that have very limited knowledge about people living with disabilities, are going to be able to witness it first hand and I think their perceptions are definitely changing.  The Laureus Awards and being nominated in these fields definitely does show that the platform that Paralympic sports is operating on is growing tremendously and it makes me very proud.

 

Question:

And of course, this Olympic year, the Laureus Awards are being held in London?

 

Oscar Pistorius

I think hosting the Laureus Awards in London is definitely going to be special. With the Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2012, it's going to go down in British history for a 100 years and having the Laureus Awards in the same city in the same year is definitely very special.  I know whenever I get to London for the last two years, all I think about is 2012 and you're constantly taking up the smell of the air, the people, that buzz. And being 2012, this is the year that we're going to be competing and having the Laureus Awards there is extremely special.

 

Question:

Laureus isn't just about the Awards, it's about the Foundation. You've recently just come back from a Laureus visit to Tanzania?

 

Oscar Pistorius

Being a Laureus Ambassador is  a great honour.  We've recently come back from a trip in Tanzania, where we were able to work with a project that's trying to change developments in sport for 400,000 young kids in the country.  Just being able to be part of something like that is extremely touching. It was a bit emotional, if you look at how little the people they have and yet how happy they are when they're given the, the ability just to practise sports.  The conventional sports that they play they use as platforms to teach kids important messages like HIV/AIDS and Malaria.  We take for granted a lot of things in our own countries where we've had the education from a young age, or the issues aren't as prominent as they are in Africa and yet, you know, Laureus does a phenomenal job in highlighting these key issues.  Kids are very difficult sometimes to get a foot in the door with, you need a platform and there's no better platform than sport.  I think the key messages that they're delivering to these children are priceless. These are things that can change their lives and also they're playing sport, show they have a great time, learn the rules of the game and also learn how to be gracious when they win.  They learn how to have fun with their friends, respect each other and hard work, but I think, ultimately, the lessons that they learn behind the scenes are far more important. I think the work that Laureus is doing is very priceless.

 

Question:

Did you have a chance to mix with the kids in Tanzania?  What kind of things were they saying to you?

 

Oscar Pistorius

We got a lot of time to mix with the kids.  We got to play some football with them.  We played football for a, a girls' team. I think the girls were aged between 6 and probably about 10 or 12.  We also got to play a couple of other games, we played volleyball, we played this other game where you have like these tags that are stuck on you and the kids are quite clever, they fold their belts inside out, so you can't pull the tags out, and you run in a circle and you have to gather as many tags as possible.

It was just great and amazing to see it because these kids had no idea who I was and then [when] they see my legs.....I was laughing. I said to one ‘you can feel my prosthetic leg, so he was feeling it and before, you know, ten seconds was up, there was probably 20 kids squeezing my legs.' And the next moment, I had those kids squeezing my arm to check if my arm was real and I was like "Hey, buddy, you know that is real".  Kids are very honest and very untainted by opinion or stereotypes and it's very special.  You go to a country like that, where there is really nothing and yet they're so grateful for the things they have.  Being able to spend time with the kids, we often leave with an experience that has far more meaning to us than anything else so, yeah, definitely, [it was] one of the highlights of my year and it was a very special thing and something I'll definitely remember for a long time.

 

Question:

Well sport obviously has given you an awful lot. Is that why you want to connect with these kids and give something back?

 

Oscar Pistorius

Sport has been unbelievable to me. Never in my wildest dreams, even as teenager, [did I] imagine where I'd be today. And it's something that I look back at and I'm very fortunate. If you look at African kids in general, there's so many of them that have these talents, that have passion for sports.  To give back a little bit, even if they don't become professional sportsmen, but they at least enjoy what they're doing and they find a zest for something, is invaluable. A parent can teach a child to be hardworking, you teach a child to be consistent, you know, sport's one of these things that just teaches you all of these lessons and many of these kids wouldn't have had that opportunity if it wasn't for Laureus. I've seen how much sport has done for me.  As a kid, I was never great at academics, but [my parents] always allowed me to participate in sport and even if I wasn't great at the sports, they said it's not about being the best, but it's about getting involved and,these are....the kind of lessons that [the kids] take away from it.

 

Question

Are you a man who has goals?  Do you have targets or do you just let the year unfold?

 

Oscar Pistorius

Yeah, I think, I'm somebody that likes to set goals and targets but I'm also somebody that likes to work for the now.  I like to wake up in the morning and know that today is part of a bigger picture, but today is its own day and the training sessions that I've got, I need to make of it the best that I possibly can so looking into 2012, you know, I'm excited for the opportunities that lie ahead.  The Paralympics is going to be a phenomenal experience, I'll be running the 100, the 200, the 400 and 4x100 relay for the first time.  And then the Olympic Games of which I've run one ‘A' qualification time, but it's still going to be a couple of months until I run a second ‘A' qualification time and although I've got that target and that goal in mind, there's a lot that needs to happen.

 

Question:

After an amazing 2011 with hopefully an amazing 2012 to come, where is Oscar Pistorius now?

 

Oscar Pistorius

You know, with 2011 being a great season and my best to date, going to 2012 definitely gives me a lot more confidence after last year.  I know that I can do the times, that I'm capable of doing, the times I need to do but it makes it a lot more exciting for me, in a sense a lot more nerve-racking.  You know, now that I've run the times, there's a lot of pressure that I'll do it again, which I want to but you constantly have to know that if you don't work hard, you know, that opportunity can pass, and this is an opportunity that comes once in a lifetime, so yeah, every day you wake up, every time you put a meal or something in your body, you have to think about, is it productive to your sports, is it going to make you quicker or better or recover faster and then every time you train, you get to the training session and you know that you must put in the best work that you possibly can do.  So, very excited for this year, coming off the 2011 season and we'll wait and see what happens.  I think the next six months is going to be very interesting.

 

 

LONDON, January 16, 2012 - The Award for Laureus Comeback of the Year is always a particularly special one.

Although Comeback Nominees are of course chosen for their sporting achievements just like the Sportsman and Sportswoman hopefuls, another very important factor is also taken into account.

And that factor is the courage, commitment and, as is particularly the case this year, the bravery that it took for these sportspeople to get back to the top of their game once again.

Because of that, all the Nominees this year truly deserve recognition for their achievements, but whose do you think are the most inspiring and worthy of success on Awards night?

Here are all the hopeful Nominees and a brief insight into the remarkable lengths they went to in the pursuit of finding sporting success once again…

ERIC ABIDAL

Eric Abidal’s story from the past year has to be one of the most remarkable in the history of football.

On March 15 last year he announced that a tumour had been found on his liver. He underwent surgery to have it removed two days later.

Eric’s turnaround remains an inspiring feat of bravery and commitment to sport. It was just two months later that the Barcelona defender returned to the game playing against Manchester United in the Champions League final. In a moving tribute he was handed the captain’s armband for the match. On Barcelona’s victory, he was the first to receive the trophy in recognition of his fantastic return after illness.

DARREN CLARKE

Darren Clarke’s victory in the Open Championship at the age of 42 was one of the most heart-warming sporting moments of the year.

It was his 20th attempt to win The Open, his home Major Championship, and came at the end of very difficult time for him following the death of his wife Heather in 2006, which meant his priority became looking after his two sons.

He dedicated his Open victory at Royal St George’s to his sons and his late wife. He said: “In terms of what’s going through my heart, there’s obviously somebody who is watching from up above and I know she’d be very proud of me. It’s been a long journey to get here.”

CRUSADERS

The Crusaders finished runners-up to the Queensland Reds in the Super 15 rugby competition, but nothing can be taken away from the passion and commitment it took for the team to reach even that stage.

The team was badly affected by the devastating Christchurch earthquake of February 2011. 181 people were killed in the disaster and the widespread destruction included their very own stadium.

It meant they had to travel over 100,000 km in 2011 alone just to play their rugby.

SERGIO GARCIA

For professional sportspeople, one of the hardest things to do is simply find a way back to top-flight success after a long period of disappointment.

Sergio Garcia, however, who won the Laureus Breakthrough of the Year at the first Awards in 2000, did just that when he once again emerged in 2011 as a powerful force in golf.

After a three year stretch without a win, Garcia won two successive tournaments in 2011; the first at the Castello Masters, followed just a week later by victory at the Andalucia Masters.

In a moving tribute he dedicated his victory at Castello to Laureus Academy Member Seve Ballesteros, who died last May.

LIU XIANG

As a true sporting hero to the Chinese people, nothing can overstate how important Liu Xiang’s success is to his home country.

This is why his dropping out of his main event, the 110 metres hurdles, at the Beijing Olympics in 2008 with a hamstring injury would have been such a personal setback.

Xiang went a long way toward making up for this in 2011 with a second place finish in the 110m hurdles at the Daegu World Championships.

QUEENSLAND REDS

The Queensland Reds were the team who defeated fellow Nominees the Crusaders in the Rugby Super 15 final.

And, just like the Crusaders, they had persisted through great hardship to emerge with such success in 2011.

A series of floods in late 2010 killed 35 people from their home region and the subsequent success the Crusaders found after several seasons of mediocrity gave the area a real lift and source of pride.

LONDON, December 6, 2011 - Colin Jackson, one of the greatest sprint hurdlers of recent times, is the newest member of the Laureus Ambassadors programme.

Welsh-born Colin Jackson was 110 metres hurdles world champion three times and was undefeated at the European Championships for 12 years.

Welcoming Jackson as a Laureus Ambassador, Edwin Moses, Chairman of the Laureus World Sports Academy, said: "Colin is one of the greatest hurdlers in history. He was a passionate and intelligent competitor and his record was terrific. He also believes in the real values of sport which everyone within Laureus respects - fairness, honesty and integrity. We are very lucky that he wants to devote his energy to working with Laureus."

Jackson, 44, said: "This is a very special day for me. I am honoured to become a member of the Laureus Family. There is nothing more important for a successful sportsman than to be able to give something back to society and to people who are less fortunate. I will be doing all I can to support the work of the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation. I am especially delighted to become a Laureus Ambassador just a couple of months before the Laureus World Sports Awards are held in London in February."

Under coach Malcolm Arnold, Jackson started as a promising decathlete before switching to hurdles. He won gold at the World Junior Championships before bursting onto the senior athletics scene in 1986 when, at just 19, he won silver at the Edinburgh Commonwealth Games in the 110 metres hurdles. Two years on from his Commonwealth success, Jackson took the silver medal at his first Olympic Games at Seoul in 1988.

With the start of the 1990s came his most remarkable and prolonged period of success. From 1990 to 2002 he won gold medals in four consecutive European Championships. He also won gold medals at both the 1993 and 1999 World Championships. In the 1993 event in Stuttgart, he accomplished perhaps his most memorable achievement by lowering the world record to 12.91 seconds, a figure which stood for 13 years, until China's Liu Xiang shaved .03 seconds off it in 2006.

August 1993 marked the beginning of an incredible unbeaten period for Jackson which lasted until February 1995, during which he won 44 consecutive races.

If there was a disappointment in Jackson's career, it was his lack of Olympic success. His silver medal in Seoul proved his only tangible reward. In Barcelona in 1992 he had a minor injury and finished seventh, four years later in Atlanta he was fourth and in his last Olympic Games, in Sydney in 2000, he came fifth.

Jackson retired from athletics in 2003 following the World Indoor Championships in front of a home British crowd in Birmingham. Since then he has become an athletics analyst for television and was also a member of London's successful bidding team for the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

LONDON, December 1, 2011 - Homare Sawa and Yani Tseng, two amazing sport stars from the Far East, are among the favourites to be nominated for the 2012 Laureus World Sportswoman of the Year Award, along with a clutch of gold medal winners from the World Athletics Championships in Daegu.

The Laureus World Sports Awards is recognised as the premier honours event in the international sporting calendar and the Awards Ceremony provides a high profile focus as stars of the sporting world come together to salute the finest sportsmen and sportswomen of the year. The winners will be unveiled during a globally televised Awards Ceremony in London on Monday, February 6.

Proceeds from the Laureus World Sports Awards directly benefit and underpin the work of the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation, which supports 89 community sports projects around the world that have helped to improve the lives of more than one-and-a-half million young people.

In July 2011, Homare Sawa captained Japan to its first ever FIFA Women's World Cup with victory over the United States in a penalty shootout. In addition, she was awarded the Golden Boot for being the tournament's leading scorer, with five goals, and the Golden Ball for being the top player. Long considered Japan's finest female footballer, she made her international debut at 15 and has played more than 170 times for Japan, scoring 80 goals.

Taiwan's Yani Tseng, at 22, has enjoyed one of the most amazing years in the history of women's golf. By the end of October, she had ten wins, including two Major Championships - the Wegmans LPGA Championship and the Ricoh British Open - and had amassed prize money of US$2.8 million, twice the winnings of Christie Kerr in second place on the money list. She finished in the top ten 13 times in the 20 tournaments she had played at that time.

The World Athletics Championships in Daegu in August have produced several strong contenders for nomination for the Laureus Sportswoman Award. THE most impressive candidate is Kenya's Vivian Cheruiyot, who established herself as one of the great distance runners of this generation after winning the 5,000 metres and 10,000 metres gold medals. Earlier in the year, Cheruiyot won the World Cross-Country Championship in Punta Umbria in Spain.

Also in Daegu, Carmelita Jeter became the fastest woman in the world when she won the blue riband 100 metres gold medal. She also won gold in the 4 x 100 metres relay and silver in the 200 metres. Currently she holds three of the top ten times ever run, while Veronica Campbell-Brown, one of the current group of outstanding Jamaican sprinters, at last won the 200 metres gold medal after three unsuccessful attempts. She also won silver medals in the 100 metres and 4 x 100 metres relay.

In the heptathlon, Russia's Tatyana Chernova got the better of British rival Jessica Ennis and took the gold medal. Chernova equalled her personal best in the 200 metres and the 100 metres hurdles and set a new best in the shot putt, winning the title with a new personal best of 6,880 points. New Zealand's Valerie Adams, indisputably the greatest female shot-putter in the world, won her third straight world title, after also winning in Osaka in 2007 and Berlin in 2009.

The Czech Republic's Petra Kvitova, at 21, beat Maria Sharapova in straight sets to win Wimbledon, her first ever Grand Slam, becoming the first Grand Slam winner born in the 1990s. As 8^th seed, she beat Alexa Glatch, Anne Keothavong, Roberta Vinci, Yanina Wickmayer, Tsvetana Pironkova and Victoria Azarenka on her way to the final. The other significant highlight of her year came in October when she won the WTA Championships in Istanbul, defeating Victoria Azarenka in three sets.

In winter sports, the incredible Marit Bjørgen won four gold medals and one silver at the World Nordic Championships at Holmenkollen in her native Norway. She is the most successful sprinter in cross-country World Cup history. At Holmenkollen, she won the Sprint, the 10km Classic, the 15km Pursuit and the 4 x 5km relay. In Alpine skiing, Germany's Maria Höfl-Riesch won the overall Alpine World Cup for the first time. During the year, Höfl-Riesch won seven times to beat her great rival Lindsey Vonn.

Australia's Anna Meares won three gold medals in the World Track Cycling Championships in Holland, winning each of the sprint disciplines - Keirin, Team Sprint and Individual Sprint. In 2008, Meares suffered a bad accident at the World Cup when she broke her neck, but she fought back and qualified for the 2008 Beijing Olympics, where she won a silver medal in the Individual Sprint.

Two British athletes dominated the triathlon in 2011. Chrissie Wellington won her fourth Ironman Triathlon World Championship in five years, despite racing in Hawaii with a torn muscle after a bike crash two weeks earlier. Helen Jenkins won her second World Triathlon Championship after finishing runner-up in the season-ending Grand Final in Beijing. It was a third second place in the seven-race series for Jenkins, who won only once, in London, over the 2012 Olympic course in Hyde Park.

The Laureus World Sports Awards, which recognise sporting achievement during 2011, are the premier honours on the international sporting calendar. The names of the six Nominees for the Laureus World Sportswoman of the Year Award, as voted by the Laureus Media Selection Panel, will be announced on December 15.  The eventual winner will then be chosen by the 47 members of the Laureus World Sports Academy, the living legends of sport honouring the greatest athletes of today.

Kitzbühel, Austria, 14th November 2011 - The winning journalists of the Laureus Media Prize for 2011 have been announced. They include sports channel Sport1, online medium bild.de, sports journalist Stefan Frommann and the King5 BOX Therapie sports project. In addition to these prizes, there were also two special prizes presented, to Laureus Ambassador Michael Teuber and Kai Diekmann, publisher and editor-in-chief of Bild and Bild am Sonntag. 300 guests gathered to congratulate the prize winners at a glittering gala event held at the Grand Tirolia in Kitzbühel.

Now in its seventh year, the Laureus Media Prize was set up to recognise outstanding sports journalism as well as initiatives and individuals who have demonstrated a particular social commitment within sport and who have thus made a significant contribution to the Laureus ideal.

In the print category, Stefan Frommann, sports editor of the Welt, Welt am Sonntag and Berliner Morgenpost newspapers, was awarded  the "Spirit of Laureus" prize for his article "Ball der Engel" (Ballgame of Angels) about an Israeli-Palestinian basketball project set up by Laureus. The "Spirit of Laureus" award in the TV category went to Sport1, and in the online category it was won by bild.de for outstanding commitment in its coverage of Laureus events.

The Austrian boxing initiative, "King5 BOXTherapie", which supports vulnerable or socially-disadvantaged children, was awarded the "Laureus Media Prize 2011: Social Sports Project." In all four cases, a majority of the jury members voted for the winner. In 2011, the 20 jury members who cast their vote were: Franz Beckenbauer, Boris Becker, Stefan Blöcher, Martin Braxenthaler, Sabine Christiansen, Susi Erdmann, Franz Klammer, Vitali and Wladimir Klitschko, Henry Maske, Thomas Muster, Günter Netzer, Axel Schulz, Jochen Schümann, Ralf Schumacher, Matthias Schweighöfer, Felix Sturm, Michael Teuber, Franziska van Almsick and Katarina Witt.

There were also two special prizes presented by Laureus Germany. The "Laureus Media Prize 2011 for the biggest commitment to Laureus" was received by Laureus Ambassador Michael Teuber, who, despite his handicap, climbed to the top of Kilimanjaro in December 2010 to raise money for the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation. Kai Diekmann, publisher and editor-in-chief of Bild newspaper, was presented with the "Special Award 2011" in recognition of his long commitment to the children's charity "Ein Herz für Kinder" (A Heart for Children).

During the Laureus Media Prize evening, which was once again held at the Hotel Grand Tirolia, the official home of Laureus Sport for Good in Austria, three new Laureus Ambassadors were announced: multiple Paralympic winner Verena Bentele, Olympic judo champion Ole Bischof and former downhill ski champion Christa Kinshofer. These will all now be involved in the future work of the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation of Germany.

A further highlight of the Laureus Media Prize evening was the announcement that from now until December 15, 2011, there is to be an auction of exclusive  "Money can't buy" gifts from the Laureus Christmas "Chari-tree". Details can be found at: www.laureus.de/Helfen (in German). These include an afternoon of poker with Boris Becker, a treasure-hunt with Sabine Christiansen and a visit to Vitali and Wladimir Klitschko's World Cup camp. All money raised from the auction will go to the Laureus Foundation.

A total of around 300 invited guests took part in the ceremony, among them: Franz Beckenbauer, Boris Becker, Sabine Christiansen, Maria Höfl-Riesch, Franz Klammer, Vitali and Wladimir Klitschko, Edwin Moses, Axel Schulz and Jochen Schümann. The musical highlight of the evening was provided by the world-renowned classical guitarist Miloš Karadaglic.

On the previous evening, members and friends of the Laureus family had gathered for the Laureus Tribute Dinner, laid on by top chef Bobby Bräuer at the Grand Tirolia, to hear of the launch of the first Austrian Laureus project. As of now, it was announced, the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation of Germany will be sponsoring the "Laureus Snow Tigers", an Austrian ski project for children and young people with a disability. The patron of this venture is to be none other than Austria's skiing legend, Franz Klammer.

NEW YORK, November 7, 2011 - Edwin van der Sar, the legendary Ajax and Manchester United goalkeeper, enjoyed a busy trip to New York City supporting Laureus last weekend by visiting the American SCORES community sports project in Harlem and also running the New York marathon to raise awareness for the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation.

Edwin was joined in his visit by Laureus Academy Member Robbie Naish and Chairman of the Laureus Foundation Netherlands, Prince Pieter-Christiaan van Oranje.

Edwin, Robbie and Prince Pieter where visiting the America SCORES project to launch an exciting new partnership between the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation and Coach Across America (CAA), an initiative that trains coaches for youth development programmes that use sport as a tool for social change.

With Laureus-support, this new partnership will see 115 new coaches receive funding to be placed into 45 youth sports projects in many of the most disadvantaged areas of New York.

During the visit, Edwin was keen on taking the chance to get between the goal posts once again to face some shots from the enthusiastic young footballers from the project; many even getting some shots passed the two-time Uefa Champions League winner.

And following his time with the kids, Edwin said: "I have been involved with Laureus for two, almost three years now. And helping kids through sport, sport being something that has given me so much in life, is an incredible experience. I am honoured to be associated with the legendary Laureus Academy members, but being here with the kids today, I am equally honoured to be here with these youngsters who love sport so much."

Edwin, a Laureus Ambassador, retired from professional football earlier this year. Laureus was named an official beneficiary of his testimonial match.

DELHI, November 4, 2011 - Paralympic hopeful Janak Singh, a member of the Laureus-supported IMAGE sports project in Rajasthan, has had a meeting with the Indian President in a bid to save his hope of competing at next year's London Games.

His position, along with all members of the Indian Paralympic team, was thrown into real doubt earlier this year following the de-recognition of the country's Paralympic Committee.

With no recognised representative body, none of the Indian Paralympic athletes will be able to compete.

Janak met the President, Pratibha Patil, along with Dr Bhairoon Singh Bhati who is a project leader at IMAGE.

Following the meeting, Janak told Laureus: "I've been training hard in wheelchair racing for the last 8 months, and have put in a lot of effort and energy into my training. I'm the only one to represent India in this particular sport.  It will be very sad if my country doesn't make it possible for me to take part in the 2012 London Paralympics Games. 

"I've always had an interest in sport.  By taking part in the Paralympics and winning, I can show the people of India that we, the disabled, are also capable of contributing something positive to the country. And that we are valuable citizens of our community.

"If I can't make it to the London Paralympics, I will keep on training but will think of representing a different country in the 2016 Paralympics."

Janak and Dr Bhati also had the opportunity of putting their concerns to the country's Minister of Sport and Youth Affairs. They pleaded to him that arrangements must be made to convene a replacement Paralympic Committee so that the many Indian Paralympic athletes of qualifying standard do not miss out on the opportunity to compete at the Games.

They have secured a further meeting with the minister to take place in early November when they will hope to find a solution to the problem in full.

 LONDON, October 31, 2011 - Sean Fitzpatrick, fresh from celebrating his country's win at the Rugby World Cup, has opened today's Laureus Sport for Good Summit in style by giving all those in attendance a special lesson in the Haka; the New Zealand dance made famous by the All Blacks.

Sean was joined on stage at the Summit by Laureus Academy Members including Michael Johnson and Daley Thompson, while Boris Becker and Steve Redgrave joined along in the audience.

Speaking on the eve of the Laureus Sport for Good Global Summit in London, two-time Olympic champion and Chairman of the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation Edwin Moses said: "This is a unique gathering of experts on what makes young people behave the way they do and we can learn vital lessons for the future. At Laureus-supported projects around the world, sport is helping young people to turn away from violence and crime. It is about time we took notice of the power of sport.

"It is now more than ten years since our Patron Nelson Mandela told us ‘Sport has the power to change the world' and that has been our driving force ever since. President Mandela's speech was a pivotal moment for the sport for good movement and for Laureus. Now with so many social problems all around us, I believe we should redouble our efforts to get our message over. That is why I am so delighted that we are able to come to London for this landmark global summit."

Representatives from 32 countries and 100 community sports-based projects are gathering in London to share ideas as to how best tackle some of societies most pressing issues.

And it is sport that Laureus has found is uniquely suited to this task.

Recent research has found that one Kickz sport project creates £7 value for every £1 invested.

This comes from reducing costs to victims, police, prisons and courts (*Teenage Kicks, 2011).

Project leaders from from every continent have flown in to London to join members of the Laureus World Sports Academy and representatives of other sport for good groups to take part in this ground-breaking event which will focus on increasing the role that sport has to play in improving the lives of young people.

In addition to discussing some of the burning social issues of the day, the aim of the Laureus Global Summit is to share ideas, knowledge and good practice and strengthen the growing network of Laureus partner organisations globally.

Edwin Moses had earlier joined his fellow Laureus Academy Member Sebastian Coe, Chairman of the Organising Committee for the 2012 London Olympic and Paralympic Games, on a tour around the London Olympic site.

Also inspecting the new Olympic Stadium in East London were Laureus Academy Members and Ambassadors Boris Becker, Nadia Comaneci, Kapil Dev, Mick Doohan, Sean Fitzpatrick, Dawn Fraser, Tanni Grey-Thompson, Marvelous Marvin Hagler, Michael Johnson, Kip Keino, Ilie Nastase, Hugo Porta, Steve Redgrave, Mark Spitz, Daley Thompson and Michael Vaughan.

For video footage of Sean's Haka lesson and all the news from the summit, be sure to check the Laureus Blog.