Kelly Slater wins Laureus World Sports Award
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Kelly Slater in Abu Dhabi on February 7. The winners of the 2011 Laureus World Sports Awards were announced Monday in Abu Dhabi. Kelly Slater won his third Laureus Action Sports Award, on the heels of Slater’s record 10th ASP World Championship title in 2010.
Slater won the Action Sports person of the year in 2007 and 2009, and he was nominated for the award in 2006. Surfer Stephanie Gilmore won the Action Sports award last year.
Slater beat out the other five nominees in the Action Sports category: Shaun White, Stephanie Gilmore, Jamie Bestwick, Levi Sherwood and Victor Fernandez.
“When [my manager] told me that Shaun White and Kelly Slater were nominated, that’s when it hit me,” FMX rider Levi Sherwood told ESPN before the awards. “I’m just excited and just to be nominated next to Shaun White after what he did at the Olympics last year. I grew up watching him, that’s what means the most.”
The winners were chosen by the 46 voting members of the Laureus Sports Academy, which is made of sports stars from across the world.
The awards, which were hosted by Oscar winner Kevin Spacey, were held at the Emirates Palace in Abu Dhabi, the capital city of the United Arab Emirates.
Spanish tennis player Rafael Nadal won the Laureus World Sportsman of the Year while ski racer Lindsey Vonn took the Sportswoman of the Year Award. Find a full list of this year’s winners here.