Sebastian Vettel, Missy Franklin, Marc Marquez, Rafael Nadal bags Laureus World Sports Awards
In this year's Laureus World Sports Awards, Sebastian Vettel, Missy Franklin, Marc Marquez and Rafael Nadal were among the few to bag the coveted award.
26-years old Sebastain Vettel, one of the greatest drivers of all time in Formula One racing was adorned with the "Sportsman of the Year" award. This is Vettel's fifth consecutive nomination.
"When I was a young kid and started competing, I fell in love with my sport and fell in love with racing and fell in love with the fact that if you do well, at the end of the race you receive a trophy.... It's still one of the main things that drives me today - to hold a trophy at the end of the race and to be on the podium...This one is not the biggest one I've ever received, but it's one of the most special ones I have now." Vettel said after the event.
"I think events like to tonight make me realise how many people actually care and follow you, your sport." added Vettel.
On the other end, 18 year old swimmer Missy Franklin was the youngest to bag "Sportswoman of the Year" award. The American bagged six gold-medals at the 2013 world championship, thus placing her ahead of previous winners.
"This is such a dream come true...I'm so happy I was able to come - it was during my Spring break so I'm not missing any school, which worked out perfect!" Franklin added after the award.
The "Breakthrough of the Year" award went to Marc Márquez. He became the youngest MotoGP world champion at just 20 years. Márquez was also youngest Grand Prix winner.
The "Team of the Year" award was given to Bayern Munich to bag their fifth win of UEFA Championship League, Bundesliga and German Cup.
The "Comeback of the Year" award went to Rafael Nadal. He returned to tennis after his seven month hiatus for his knee injury. He won French Open for the eighth time, resulting to be as one of the greatest clay court player in the history of tennis.
The "Action Sportsperson of the Year" was awarded to BMX master Jamie Bestwick of United Kingdom. Jamie holds the record to become the only athlete in X games history winning eight gold medals.
The "Spirit of Sport Award" goes to Afghanistan cricket team. A country, always ravaged with brutal war, Afghans entry in the cricket has definitely boosted the national pride to an extent.
The "Sportsman of the Year with a Disability" was bagged by Marie Bochet of France in Skiing. Marie, who suffers from agenesis of the left arm, became the first athlete to complete all five events at one Alpine Skiing World Championships, at the age of 19.
The "Sport for Good Awards" went to Magic Bus, a charitable organization based at India. They introduced an innovative project for the underprivileged children of India.