The results are in. Roger Federer named Sportsman of the Year for the third year running. The Italian football team takes out team of the year on the back of the World Cup win. Kelly Slater wins the Alternative Sportsperson award. And the list goes on.
There will always be arguments over the winners of such awards. Some Australians in particular might take issue with the team award going to the Italians given the circumstances of our now legendary world cup clash.
The Spirit of Sport award, given to FC Barcelona, could be contentious and must surely be one of the hardest to judge. The Laureus World Sports Awards have only been around since 2000 but are they the real deal? Do they matter and do they have the authority to last and become a genuine tradition?
The awards are voted on by an academy of 42 former sports stars. A glance at the names certainly impresses. Among the 42 are Pele, Michael Jordan, Mark Spitz, Sergey Bubka, Nadia Comaneci, Jack Nicklaus and Australians Dawn Fraser and Steve Waugh. Each member reached the pinnacle of their sport and I would venture that most of them would, by common consent, be considered among the greatest of all time in their fields. There is some bona fide gravitas here. The academy votes on a shortlist created by prominent sportswriters and commentators from around the world. All in all, the process seems pretty watertight. It’s hard to imagine a better way of doing it. But what do you think – have they got it right?
Read on for the full list of winners.
For the record the 2007 awards went to:
Sportsman of the Year Roger Federer (Switzerland) Tennis
Sportswoman of the Year Yelena Isinbayeva (Russia) Athletics
Team of the Year Italian Football Team Football
Comeback of the Year Serena Williams (USA) Tennis
Sportsperson with a Disability Martin Braxenthaler (Germany) Skiing
Breakthrough of the Year Amelie Mauresmo (France) Tennis
Alternative Sportsperson Kelly Slater (USA) Surfing
Lifetime Achievement Award Franz Beckenbauer (Germany) Football
Spirit of Sport Award FC Barcelona (Spain) Football
Sports for Good Award Luke Dowdney
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