LONDON, November 13, 2012 – Spectacular performances at the London Olympic Games have produced a string of impressive candidates for Nomination for the 2013 Laureus World Sportswoman of the Year Award.
2012 London Olympic Games five time medal-winner Missy Frankin is among the super star athletes nominated. Joining her are British heptathlon gold medal winner Jessica Ennis, track and field standouts Allyson Felix, Shelly-Ann Fraser Pryce (Jamaica), and Sally Pearson (Australia), tennis pro Serena Williams, Japanese freestyle wrestler Saori Yoshida, New Zealand shot putter Valerie Adams, and Canadian footballer Christine Sinclair.
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 Rio de Janeiro.
Proceeds from the Laureus World Sports Awards directly benefit and underpin the work of the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation, which supports more than 100 community sports projects around the world that have helped to improve the lives of over one-and-a-half million young people.
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 previousl y only despair.” This has become the philosophy of Laureus; the driving force behind its work.