Black Immigrant Daily News
Jamaican sprint legend Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce is among the nominees for this year’s Laureus World Sports Awards.
Fraser-Pryce is shortlisted for Sportswoman of the Year along with US 400m hurdles ace Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, tennis player Iga Swiatek of Poland, Spanish footballer playerAlexia Putellas, US alphine skier Mikaela Shiffrin and US swimmerKatie Ledecky.
For sprint sensation Fraser-Pryce, last year featured a fifth world 100m title win, while a world-leading 10.62 was among her record seven sub-10.70 100m races of the season.
“I would like to thank the world’s sports media for this special nomination,” said Fraser-Pryce. “This is my sixth nomination for the Laureus World Sportswoman of the Year Award and it is a great honour. I continue to be inspired by the wider Laureus movement and initiatives in celebrating the power of sports to change the world, which further makes the nomination special.”
McLaughlin-Levrone broke the world record in her event, twice. The second of those record-breaking performances, where she ran an awe-inspiring 50.68, secured her a first individual senior world title in Oregon, and she followed it by anchoring the US team to another 4x400m victory.
In 2022, Ledecky won all four of her events at the world swimming championships, Shiffrin rebounded from a medal-less Olympics to win her fourth World Cup overall title, the biggest annual prize in ski racing.
Jamaican Elaine Thompson-Herah won the award last year after sweeping the 100m, 200m and 4x100m golds at the Tokyo Olympics.
The Sportsman of the Year nominees include Swedish pole vault star Duplantis, who set three world records in 2022, a year in which he claimed two global titles, won 18 of his 19 competitions, and vaulted six metres or higher 23 times. His highest clearance so far, 6.21m, came at the World Athletics Championships Oregon22.
Duplantis is up against NBA star Stephen Curry, football stars Kylian Mbappe and Lionel Messi, tennis star Rafael Nadal and Formula One driver Max Verstappen, who won last year.
The winners will be revealed in the coming months, following a vote by the Laureus World Sports Academy, comprising 71 sporting legends.
NewsAmericasNow.com
