Bolt, Fraser-Pryce shortlisted for Laureus award

Rio de Janeiro, Dec 19 (IANS): Top Jamaican sprinters Usain Bolt and Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce are among the athletes in the running for the prestigious Laureus World Sports Awards 2013.

Bolt and Fraser-Pryce have been shortlisted along with the world’s greatest Olympic and Paralympic stars.

The list includes British lawn tennis player Andy Murray, Australian swimmer Michael Phelps and Serena Williams, the American lawn tennis star.

Bolt is aiming for his third Laureus World Sportsman of the Year Award after repeating his success in Beijing by winning gold medals in all three sprint events in London – 100m, 200m and the 4x100m relay.

The nominations for the Laureus World Sportswoman of the Year Award are all dominated by the Olympics.

Fraser-Pryce, the fastest woman on earth after successfully defending her 100m Olympic title, is in competition with Britain’s Jessica Ennis, who won the heptathlon gold in front of an ecstatic home crowd.

Also nominated are non-Olympians Sebastian Vettel, winner of a third-straight Formula One World Championship and charismatic footballer Lionel Messi, nominated for the fourth- straight time

The nominations were announced during a ceremony here.

The Laureus World Sports Awards, which recognise sporting achievement during 2012, are the premier honours on the international sporting calendar.

The winners, voted by the Laureus World Sports Academy – the ultimate sports jury, made up of 46 of the greatest sportsmen and sportswomen of all time – will be unveiled at a televised awards ceremony March 11.