The Free Press Journal

Who will grab Laureus honour?

- AMANPREET SINGH

Golfer Tiger Woods, champion marathon runner Eliud Kipchoge and Formula One driver Lewis Hamilton are the top contenders to grab the Laureus World Sportsman of the Year award here on Monday.

Woods is in the running for his career-redeeming first major title in 11 years, while Kipchoge's incredible subtwo-hour marathon run and Hamilton's sixth F1 world title also put them in contention for the prestigiou­s award.

The Verti Music hall is being decked up for the ceremony, to be held metres away from the famous East Side Gallery full of murals on the remnant of the Berlin Wall, which separated the East Berlin from the West between 1961 and 1989.

The ceremony will now be hosted by Hugh Grant, the Golden Globe-winning actor, though the organisers had earlier announced that the host will be Sharon Stone.

The Laureus World Sports Awards is the pinnacle of sport, honouring the world's greatest achievers and recognisin­g sport's ability to change lives for the better.

"As a true sports fan, I am excited to play my part on Monday evening as the greatest athletes of past and present unite in Berlin to celebrate everything we love about sport," said Grant.

Kipchoge, became the first athlete to run a marathon in under two hours. The 34year-old recorded 1hr 59mins 40secs, in Vienna, although the time is not recognised as an official world record because it was not in open competitio­n and he used a team of pacemakers.

Woods, who has grabbed the 2019 comeback of the year award, won his 15th Major Championsh­ip at the Masters in April. It was his first Major title since the US Open-winning effort in 2008. The American golfing legend has spent 10 tumultuous years since the infidelity scandal.

Hamilton is also among the six nominees in the list, which also has tennis great Rafael Nadal, Lionel Messi and Marc Marquez.

The British F1 ace won his sixth World Championsh­ip title in 2019 to be second in the all-time list, one behind the inspiratio­nal German Michael Schumacher.

Hamilton won 11 of the 21 Grand Prix during the 2019 calendar, taking his tally to 84 career race victories, seven behind Schumacher.

Messi scored his 600th career goal for Barcelona. With 36 goals in 2018-19, he was the top scorer in La Liga for the sixth time. In November he passed 40 goals in a year for the 11th time.

 ??  ?? Sachin Tendulkar’s 2011 WC victory has been shortliste­d as one of the 20 contenders for the greatest Sporting Moment Award.
Sachin Tendulkar’s 2011 WC victory has been shortliste­d as one of the 20 contenders for the greatest Sporting Moment Award.

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