Mo Farah nominated for World Sportsman of the Year award

Mo Farah‘s achievement in winning the 5,000m and 10,000m double at last year’s World Championships in Moscow has seen him nominated for the Laureus World Sportsman of the Year honour.

Among his rivals are Formula 1 world champion Sebastian Vettel, tennis star Rafael Nadal, footballer Cristiano Ronaldo and basketball’s LeBron James.

Sprinter Usain Bolt, who has won the award three times, is again nominated.

The ceremony takes place in Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday, 26 March.

Farah’s nomination comes on the same day he announced he will run in the New York City Half Marathon in March, one month before he makes his debut over 26.2 miles at the London Marathon.

The nominations follow a ballot by the world’s media and the winners are voted for by the Laureus World Sports Academy, which is made up of 46 of the greatest sportsmen and sportswomen of all-time,

Golfer Justin Rose, who finally won his first major at last year’s US Open the age of 32, is nominated for Breakthrough of the Year, while British-born, now US-based, BMX star Jamie Bestwick is shortlisted for the Action Sports award for the fourth successive year.

Four-time Olympic gold medallist Ben Ainslie is nominated for the World Comeback of the Year award as a member of Oracle Team USA which won the America’s Cup in thrilling fashion last September.

NOMINATIONS

World Sportsman of the Year: Usain Bolt (Jamaica), Mo Farah (Great Britain), LeBron James (US), Rafael Nadal (Spain), Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal), Sebastian Vettel (Germany)

World Sportswoman of the Year: Nadine Angerer (Germany), Missy Franklin (US), Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce (Jamaica), Yelena Isinbayeva (Russia), Tina Maze (Slovenia), Serena Williams (US)

World Team of the Year: All Blacks (NZ), Bayern Munich (Germany), Brazil Men’s Football Team, Bob & Mike Bryan (US), Miami Heat (US), Red Bull (Austria)

World Breakthrough of the Year: Afghanistan Cricket Team, Marc Márquez (Spain), Raphael Holzdeppe (Germany), Nairo Quintana (Colombia), Justin Rose (UK), Adam Scott (Australia)

World Comeback of the Year: Yelena Isinbayeva (Russia), Rafael Nadal (Spain), Oracle Team USA, Tony Parker (France), Ronaldinho (Brazil), Tiger Woods (US)

World Sportsperson of the Year with a Disability: Marie Bochet (France), Marcel Hug (Switzerland), Tatyana McFadden (US), Sophie Pascoe (NZ), Sarah Louise Rung (Norway), Olga Sviderska (Ukraine)

World Action Sportsperson of the Year: Jamie Bestwick (UK), Bob Burnquist (Brazil), Mick Fanning (Australia), John John Florence (US), Maya Gabeira (Brazil), Shaun White (US).

Source: BBC.co.uk