Pistorius up for two Laureus awards: iLIVE

South Africa’s Oscar Pistorius has been nominated for both the Laureus Breakthrough of the Year and the Laureus Disability Award.

Pistorius is arguably the most high profile Paralympian in the world and in 2011 he broke new barriers as he competed at the highest levels of non-disabled sport as well.

As a result of his ground-breaking achievements, he has been nominated for two 2012 Laureus World Sports Awards – the Laureus World Breakthrough of the Year Award and the Laureus Disability Award.

The Laureus World Sports Awards, which recognise sporting achievement during the calendar year 2011, are the premier honours on the international sporting calendar.   The winners, as voted by the Laureus World Sports Academy, the ultimate sports jury, made up of 47 of the greatest sportsmen and sportswomen of all time, will be unveiled at a televised Awards Ceremony staged in London on Monday, February 6.

A glittering collection of the world’s greatest sports stars have been nominated for the 2012 Laureus World Sports Awards, following a ballot by the world’s media, the results of which are announced today. 

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. Since its inception, Laureus has raised €40 million for projects which have improved the lives of more than one-and-a-half million young people.

Pistorius, aged 25, was born with a congenital absence of the fibula and his legs were amputated below the knee when he was 11-months-old. He runs with the aid of carbon fibre blades.

Now known as the ‘Blade Runner’, in August 2011 Pistorius became the first amputee to win a non-disabled World Championship track medal, as a member of the South African silver medal winning 4 x 400 metres relay team, in Daegu, South Korea.

With his 400 metres time of 45.07 secs in July, he had achieved the qualifying standard for the World Championships and was selected for the South Africa team. He took part in the individual 400 metres in Daegu and reached the semi-finals before being eliminated after running a time of 46.19 secs.  In the relay, he took part in the heats, which secured his silver medal, although he was not chosen for the final.

His desire to bridge the gap between disabled and non-disabled sport became reality in Daegu. Now his goal is to compete in the 2012 Olympic Games in London.

In Paralympic sport in 2011, Pistorius suffered his first defeat in seven years when Jerome Singleton took the gold medal in a thrilling 100 metres at the IPC Athletics World Championships in New Zealand, but he did win three gold medals in the 200, 400 and 4 x 100 metres relay. At the BT Paralympic World Cup in May, Pistorius smashed his own 400 metres Paralympic world record, recording a time of 47.28. 

As a result of these achievements, Pistorius has been nominated for both the Laureus Breakthrough of the Year and the Laureus Disability Award.

In the Breakthrough category, also nominated are Jamaican sprinter Yohan Blake, British runner Mo Farah, Northern Ireland golfer Rory McIlroy, who won the US Open at 22, Petra Kvitova, who won her first Grand Slam at Wimbledon at just 21, and French Open champion Li Na, China’s first ever tennis Grand Slam winner.

Also on the shortlist for the Laureus Disability Award are Dutch wheelchair tennis star Esther Vergeer, who has already won two Laureus Awards and is unbeaten in singles in more than eight years, British wheelchair racer David Weir and Russian cross-country skier Irek Zaripov. Brazil has two nominations – swimmer Daniel Dias, who won the Disability Award in 2009, and visually impaired runner Terezinha Guilhermina.

Laureus World Sports Academy Chairman Edwin Moses said: “This has been a great year for sport and the Academy are going to find it extremely difficult to decide who to vote for as winners. We have had several massive performances in 2011 both by individuals and teams and that has been reflected in the Nominations. I congratulate Oscar on his amazing achievement and all the Nominees for what they have achieved and now we look forward to what should be a great Awards Ceremony in February in London.”

The full list of nominees for the 2012 Laureus World Sports Awards is:

Laureus World Sportsman of the Year

Usain Bolt (Jamaica) Athletics – two gold medals in World Athletics Championships in Daegu

Novak Djokovic (Serbia) Tennis – won Australian, Wimbledon and US Open Grand Slams

Cadel Evans (Australia) Cycling – winner of the Tour de France

Lionel Messi (Argentina) Football – FC Barcelona’s star player, scored 53 goals in 2010/11 season

Dirk Nowitzki (Germany) Basketball – first European to be named MVP at NBA Finals

Sebastian Vettel (Germany) Motor Racing – won second straight F1 World Championship at 24

Laureus World Sportswoman of the Year

Vivian Cheruiyot (Kenya) Athletics – won World Championship 5k & 10K and cross-country title

Maria Höfl-Riesch (Germany) Alpine Skiing – beat Lindsey Vonn to win overall World Cup

Carmelita Jeter (US) Athletics – won 100m and 4 x 100m relay gold medals in World Championships

Petra Kvitova (Czech) Tennis – won her first Grand Slam at Wimbledon, plus WTA Championship

Homare Sawa (Japan) Football – won Golden Ball and Golden Boot in FIFA World Cup

Yani Tseng (Taiwan) Golf – at 22, won two golf Majors and headed LPGA money list by over US$1m

Laureus World Team of the Year

All Blacks (N.Zealand) Rugby – won 2011 Rugby World Cup in their own country

FC Barcelona (Spain) Football – won Champions League and Spanish League in 2010/11

Dallas Mavericks (US) Basketball – won their first ever NBA Championship

England Cricket Team – became world No 1 after Ashes win in Australia and beating India 4-0

Japan Women’s Football Team – became first Asian team to win FIFA Women’s World Cup

Red Bull (Austria) Motor Racing – won second straight F1 Constructors World Championship

Laureus World Breakthrough of the Year

Yohan Blake (Jamaica) Athletics – at 21, won 100m gold medal in World Championships

Mo Farah (UK) Athletics – winner of the 5,000 metres gold medal in the World Championships

Petra Kvitova (Czech Republic) Tennis – at 21, won her first Grand Slam at Wimbledon

Rory McIlroy (UK) Golf – at 22, won US Open, his first Major Championship

Li Na (China) Tennis – won French Open to become China’s first ever Grand Slam winner

Oscar Pistorius (SA) Athletics – first amputee to win track medal in non-disabled World Championships

Laureus World Comeback of the Year

Eric Abidal (France) Football – beat cancer to play in winning Barcelona Champions League team

Darren Clarke (UK) Golf – at 42, recovered from slump in form to win Open Championship

Crusaders (NZ) Rugby – despite Christchurch earthquake, Crusaders reached final of Super 15

Sergio Garcia (Spain) Golf – won two European Tour events, after three years without a victory

Liu Xiang (China) Athletics – after 2008 Olympic disappointment, won silver in World Championships

Queensland Reds (Australia) Rugby – won Super 15 rugby despite floods in Queensland

Laureus World Sportsperson of the Year with a Disability

Daniel Dias (Brazil) Swimming – won 11 gold medals in 11 events at Parapan Games

Terezinha Guilhermina (Brazil) Athletics – won 4 gold medals in IPC World Championships

Oscar Pistorius (SA) Athletics – first amputee to win track medal in non-disabled World Championships

Esther Vergeer (Netherlands) Wheelchair Tennis – unbeaten in singles for more than eight years

David Weir (UK) Wheelchair Athletics – won 3 gold medals in IPC World Championships

Irek Zaripov (Russia) Nordic Skiing – won 6 medals in IPC World Skiing Championships

Laureus World Action Sportsperson of the Year

Jamie Bestwick (UK) BMX – came back from fractured skull to win 5th straight X Games gold

Philip Köster (Germany) Windsurfing – became PWA Wave World Champion at 17

Carissa Moore (US) Surfing – won her first World Surfing Championship at 19     

Travis Rice (US) Snowboarding – takes on the world’s most intimidating descents

Kelly Slater (US) Surfing – won 11th World Surfing Championship at 39     

Shaun White (US) Skateboarding/Snowboarding – won Winter and Summer X Games gold