Ellen wins award at Laureus World Sports Awards

Switzerland’s Roger Federer won the most prestigious award in sport when he was named Laureus World Sportsman of the Year following a brilliant 2004 in which he won three Grand Slam tennis tournaments and established himself as undisputed No.1 in the world, at the age of just 23. In an Olympic year, Britain’s Kelly Holmes, winner of a celebrated 800 metres and 1,500 metres double gold in Athens, was honoured as Laureus World Sportswoman of the Year, while China’s Liu Xiang, who won the 110 metres hurdles at just 21, was named Laureus World Newcomer of the Year.

There was an emotional reception at the Awards Ceremony, staged at the Casino Estoril in Portugal, for Italy’s Alessandro Zanardi, who won the Laureus World Comeback of the Year Award after courageously returning to the track after a horrific motor racing accident in which he lost both his legs.

Inspired by 65-year-old German coach Otto Rehhagel, Greece’s dramatic victory in the 2004 European Football Championship in Portugal last summer has won them the Laureus World Team of the Year Award.

Canada’s wheelchair athlete Chantal Petitclerc, who won five gold medals in the Paralympic Games in Athens, was named Laureus World Sportsperson with a Disability, while British yachtswoman Ellen MacArthur won the Laureus World Alternative Sportsperson of the Year Award following her record-breaking round-the-world sail.

Boston Red Sox won the inaugural Laureus Spirit of Sport Award, a new honour which celebrates a remarkable feat during the sporting year, for their history-defying success in winning baseball’s World Series for the first time in 86 years. The Laureus Sport for Good Award was presented to Northern Ireland’s Gerry Storey who has spent a lifetime training boxers of all denominations at the Holy Family Gymnasium in Belfast.

The Laureus World Sports Awards has established a unique place in the sporting calendar, honouring the greatest sportsmen and sportswomen from around the world. In the audience at the Awards Ceremony at the Casino Estoril, which is watched by a global TV audience of 460 million, were members of the Laureus World Sports Academy, sports guests and celebrities including His Majesty the King of Spain, Hollywood stars Jackie Chan, Teri Hatcher, Joely Richardson, Marcia Gay Harden, Woody Harrelson and Morgan Freeman, Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone, England football coach Sven Goran Eriksson, England football captain David Beckham and his wife Victoria Beckham and former Formula One drivers Jean Alesi and Mika Hakkinen.

The winners are selected by the ultimate sports jury - the 40 members of the Laureus World Sports Academy. Among these legends of sport who were in Estoril were: Boris Becker, Ian Botham, Sergey Bubka, Sebastian Coe, Nadia Comaneci, David Douillet, Emerson Fittipaldi, Sean Fitzpatrick, Tanni Grey-Thompson, Tony Hawk, Miguel Indurain, Michael Johnson, Kip Keino, Franz Klammer, Edwin Moses, Robby Naish, Ilie Nastase, Martina Navratilova, Gary Player, Morné du Plessis, Hugo Porta, Mark Spitz, Daley Thompson and Katarina Witt.

The year 2004 saw Roger Federer (Laureus World Sportsman of the Year) become the dominant force in world tennis. He completed arguably the most spectacular 12 months by a tennis player in the open era, becoming the first man since 1988 to win three out of four Grand Slam events in the same calendar year, winning the Australian Open, Wimbledon and US Open. He also won Wimbledon in 2003, becoming the first Swiss to do so. Now 24, Federer established himself as indisputable World No.1, winning 11 times in 2004, the best performance in almost 20 years.

Laureus World Sports Academy member tennis legend Boris Becker, himself a multi-Grand Slam winner, said: “It was a phenomenal year for Roger Federer. He is not only a skilful player, but he is wonderful to watch. In 2004 he seemed to be able to win the un-winnable points and out-think his opponents. He served up superb, winning tennis throughout the year and at 24 it leaves us all wondering what he can achieve in the future.”

At 34 and the oldest woman in the field, Kelly Holmes (Laureus World Sportswoman of the Year), after a career dogged by injuries and disappointments, won the 800 metres and 1,500 metres Olympic gold medals in Athens, a feat only ever achieved by two women before. It was one of the greatest achievements in Olympic history, made even more satisfying for Holmes who has suffered an agonising series of near-misses in her career. She was squeezed out of the medals with fourth place in the 800 metres at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics after suffering a stress fracture. Injury also ruined her bid for the 1997 World Championship 1,500 metres, and many wondered if her best chance of a gold medal had gone as bronze in the 800 metres in the Sydney Olympics was followed by silver in the same event in the 2003 World Championships.

Greece (Laureus World Team of the Year) arrived in Portugal for the 2004 European Championship as 150-1 outsiders who had never won a major tournament. Four weeks later the Greece national team had become legendary figures in Greek football history after becoming surprise winners. Angelos Charisteas scored the winning goal in the 1-0 Euro 2004 final victory against hosts Portugal, while German Otto Rehhagel, aged 65, proved a tactical genius as Greek coach.

Laureus World Sports Academy member Bobby Charlton, a member of the England World Cup winning side in 1966, said: “Greece’s victory was a classic team performance. They had excellent tactics, each member of the team knew what they had to do and they were not overawed by the reputation of some of the other teams they had to play. Winning Euro 2004 will be a watershed for football in the country.”

The success of Liu Xiang (Laureus World Newcomer of the Year) in becoming the first Chinese man to win a track athletics gold medal in Olympic history when he won the 110 metres hurdles in Athens caused sports hysteria in China. He has instantly become one of the most famous sporting faces in China and is now one of the host nation’s emblems for the Beijing 2008 Olympics. Never having broken 13.0 secs before, he clocked a stunning 12.91 secs to equal the world record set by Britain's Colin Jackson in 1993. Born in Shanghai, his family wanted him to study computer engineering, but Liu wanted to be an athlete. The turning point came in 1998 when coach Sun Haiping spotted Liu and persuaded him to concentrate on the 110 metres hurdles.

Laureus World Sports Academy member Deng Yaping, widely acclaimed as the greatest ever women’s table tennis player who was named Chinese Sports Personality of the Century in 1999, said: “This is a great honour for this young athlete and for our country. He should be very proud of what he has achieved. He has an exciting future ahead of him and I hope he will be able to repeat his success when he competes in the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.”

Italy’s Alessandro Zanardi (Laureus World Comeback of the Year) showed immense mental and physical courage in returning to motor racing after losing both legs in a horrific crash. Zanardi, who had driven in Formula One with the Williams team, had switched to CART racing and his accident in the European Memorial CART race in Lausitz in Germany in 2001 was one of the worst ever seen. His car spun coming out of the pits and it was hit by another coming down the straight at 200mph. Zanardi, 38, returned to motor racing in October 2003, finishing seventh in the European Touring Car Championship race at Monza. In 2004 he completed a full season in the championship, racing at speeds of up to 240kmh and has already signed to race again in 2005.

Laureus World Sports Academy member and double Formula One World Champion Emerson Fittipaldi said: “I would pay special tribute to Alessandro Zanardi. To achieve what he has done and come back to racing is an awesome achievement. Physically it has been challenging, but the mental pressures must have been enormous. I am full of admiration for his courage and his determination.” Dr. Claudio Costa, who has overseen his rehabilitation since the accident, says: “Alessandro Zanardi is letting all the people in his condition know what they can do. His example sends a message to humanity."

At 13 Chantal Petitclerc (Laureus World Sportsperson of the Year with a Disability) lost the use of both legs in an accident. She began swimming, then switched to wheelchair athletics. She was the outstanding athletics performer in the 2004 Athens Paralympics with five wheelchair gold medals – winning every race in which she competed – and breaking four world records, six Paralympic records and four Canadian records. She was chosen to carry the Canadian flag at the closing ceremony and in December 2004 received Canada’s Meritorious Service Medal. She also won three golds and a bronze at the 2002 World Championships and a gold at the 2002 Commonwealth Games, achievements for which she was nominated for the 2003 Laureus World Sportsperson of the Year with a Disability Award.

Laureus World Sports Academy member Tanni Grey-Thompson, Britain’s leading Paralympic athlete, said: “Chantal's performance in Athens was nothing short of stunning. It is possible to mutli-medal in wheelchair racing, but not just to win but to break world records at various distances shows what a dominant force she is.”

Ellen MacArthur (Laureus World Alternative Sportsperson of the Year), aged 28 and 5ft 3ins (1.60 metres) tall, set the record for a round-the-world solo sail. She was, since 2001, already the fastest woman and youngest person ever to make a solo circumnavigation, but then she set off from Falmouth in autumn, and proceeded to beat the existing record of Francis Joyon of France by one day. In the end, MacArthur completed the 27,000-mile journey in 71 days, 14 hours, 18 minutes and 33 seconds. On her arduous journey, MacArthur battled hurricanes, dodged icebergs and whales and endured endless nights en route through some of the world's most notorious weather spots -- past the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa and round Cape Horn in South America. She never slept for more than 15-30 minutes at a stretch, just four hours a day.

On receiving the award, Ellen commented: "It is a huge honour to receive this award and another great achievement for the team. I was in the company of so many athletes who have pushed the boundaries within their own sporting discipline to reach the highest level possible and that in itself was inspiring. The Laureus Sports Academy is committed to supporting and promoting every type of sport, mainstream or otherwise and it is a fantastic opportunity to be a part of that."

The baseball World Series victory of the Boston Red Sox (Laureus Spirit of Sport Award) for the first time in 86 years was one of the most emotional sporting achievements of 2004, and ended one of sport's most enduring ‘curses’. From the day in 1920 when Boston Red Sox sold Babe Ruth to the New York Yankees, they had never won the World Series. Four times the Red Sox had reached the World Series and four times they had lost.

This time church bells rang in small New England towns and horns honked on the crowded streets of Boston as the Red Sox won the World Series in style, beating the St Louis Cardinals 4-0 in the best of seven matches. On their way to the World Series, the Red Sox also engineered the greatest comeback in baseball history against the New York Yankees in the American League Championship Series. Having lost the first three games of the best of seven play-off, the Red Sox had to win all remaining four to go through to the final, and they created history by doing just that. It was a sporting epic, one of the greatest sporting performances ever witnessed in American sport.

Legendary boxing coach Gerry Storey (Laureus Sport for Good Award) has spent a lifetime running the Holy Family Gymnasium in Belfast throughout the ‘troubles’ in Northern Ireland, training young boxers regardless of their background, and encouraging tolerance and reconciliation between the Catholic and Protestant communities. The gym, featured in the Daniel Day-Lewis film The Boxer, is in a Catholic area, but there is no place for sectarian violence. This is a gym dedicated to boxing, sportsmanship and the creation of great fighters, including world middleweight champion Steve Collins and Olympic gold medallist Michael Carruth.

Four-times Irish Olympic coach, Storey’s standing in the community is high. Even amid the worst sectarian violence, Storey and his boxers have had unofficial diplomatic immunity. “They'd never touch me or any member of my gym," he says. "It's a place that has saved lives, taking boys off the killing streets and offering them the controlled aggression of the ring - an alternative to the cycle of murderous sectarian violence."

The full list of Award winners is:

Laureus World Sportsman of the Year: Roger Federer
Laureus World Sportswoman of the Year: Kelly Holmes
Laureus World Team of the Year: Greece Men’s Football Team
Laureus World Comeback of the Year: Alessandro Zanardi
Laureus World Newcomer of the Year: Liu Xiang
Laureus World Sportsperson of the Year with a Disability: Chantal Petitclerc
Laureus World Alternative Sportsperson of the Year: Ellen MacArthur

The Laureus Spirit of Sport Award was presented to Boston Red Sox
The Laureus Sport for Good Award was presented to Northern Irish boxing coach Gerry Storey

The Laureus World Sports Awards were established in 1999 by Founding Patrons DaimlerChrysler and Richemont, who are represented through their brands Mercedes-Benz and IWC Schaffhausen. The awards honour the achievements of the world's greatest sportsmen and sportswomen on an annual basis, and also contribute to social change through the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation.