Laureus World Sportswoman of the Year 2014: The Analysis part 2
March 12, 2014
The athletes who make the shortlist for Laureus World Sportswoman of the Year 2014 boast an incredible number of gold medals, championship victories and standout performances that all make them worthy of the coveted Laureus Statuette on March 26.
Here’s the second part of our detailed analysis of the Laureus World Sportswoman of the Year Nominees and their achievements in 2013 for you to help with your choice.
But who gets your vote?
YELENA ISINBAYEVA (Russia) Athletics
Yelena Isinbayeva won the pole vault gold medal at the World Championships in front of her home Russian crowd in Moscow. Olympic champion in 2004 and 2008, the pressure was on her after she failed to win in London in 2012, but she responded with a clearance of 4.89 metres to win. She has now won three outdoor and four indoor world titles and has set 15 outdoor and 13 indoor world records. In November she was presented with the IAAF Distinguished Career Award.
TINA MAZE (Slovenia) Skiing
In 2013 Slovenian skier Tina Maze produced one of the most amazing seasons ever seen in skiing. She won the Overall, Super-G, Giant Slalom and Combined World Cup titles, plus the Super-G gold medal and silver medal in Combined at the World Championships in Schladming. During the year she had 11 wins, a record number of World Cup points (2,414) – beating Hermann Maier’s previous record of 2,000 – the highest number of podiums (24) and the highest number of top five finishes (31). She secured the Overall World Cup title nine races before the end of the season and is the only woman to remain at the top of the overall ranking throughout the season
SERENA WILLIAMS (United States) Tennis
American tennis star Serena Williams had another outstanding year, winning the French Open and the US Open to take her career total of Open Era Grand Slam singles victories to 17 – just five behind Steffi Graf and one behind Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova. When she regained the world No 1 ranking in February 2013, she became the oldest woman in the Open Era, at 31, to achieve it. In the year she won eight other tournaments, including the WTA Championship, taking her career prize money to US$50 million.
