Swiss tennis player Roger Federer holds his trophy after receiving the Laureus World Sportsman Of The Year award Monday, May 16 2005, at the Estoril Casino, outside Lisbon, Portugal.
Photo: AP
|
 |
Roger Federer Named Laureus World Sportsman of the Year
World number one tennis player Roger Federer of Switzerland was named Laureus World Sportsman of the Year and honored the trophy at Estoril’s Laureus World Awards near Lisbon May 16, 2005. U.K. athlete Kelly Holmes, winner of double gold in Athens, got Laureus World Sportswoman of the Year.
Although relatively young (this year’s ceremony was only the sixth in the history of the award), the Laureus ceremony is regarded extremely prestigious, the more so as the trophy is granted by results of the sole poll, including experts and journalists. At least 400 reporters representing the media of 70 countries of the world vote first. Then the Laureus World Sports Academy that unites sports legends, such as Boris Becker and Sergey Bubka, step in.
The choice of Roger Federer was not surprising. For the Swiss tennis player, 2004 turned out really brilliant. He won three from four Grand Slam tennis tournaments, was the best at the final tournament of the Masters Cup and excelled at seven more though not so outstanding tournaments. Besides, the 24-year old Federer has added six more titles this year, having lost only two tournaments.
There were two Russians – Olympic champion and record breaker Elena Isinbaeva (pole vaulting) and Wimbledon winner Maria Sharapova - among the nominees to become the best sportswoman. Their chances would have been rather high some other time. But Britain athlete Kelly Holmes was named Laureus World Sportswoman of the Year. She won the 800 meters and 1,500 meters Olympic gold medals in Athens.
US Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia was among the nominees to get the World Newcomer of the Year. The prize went to the 21-year old Chinese Liu Xing, who won the 110-meter hurdles in Athens.
Greece Men's Football Team was named the World Team of the Year after the sensational victory at the 2004 European Championship in Portugal.
www.kommersant.com
All the Article in Russian as of May 18, 2005
|
|
|
