Laureus Award to be Announced 7 February

The Laureus World Sports Awards Ceremony will take place on Monday, 7 February in Abu Dhabi, with six Paralympic athletes competing for the Sportsperson of the Year with a Disability Award.

The Laureus World Sports Awards, which recognize sporting achievement during the calendar year 2010, are the premier honours on the international sporting calendar. The winners are voted by the Laureus World Sports Academy, the ultimate sports jury, made up of 46 of the greatest sportsmen and sportswomen of all time.

The nominees for Sportsperson of the Year with a Disability Award, announced in January by the Laureus World Sports Academy, include:

Verena Bentele - Germany

Bentele won five gold medals in Biathlon and Cross-Country Skiing at the Vancouver 2010 Paralympic Winter Games.

Matt Cowdrey – Australia

Cowdrey competed at the 2010 IPC Swimming World Championships in Eindhoven, the Netherlands where he won six gold medals and a silver.

Daniel Dias – Brazil

Dias broke five World records and won eight titles at the 2010 IPC Swimming World Championships in Eindhoven, the Netherlands.

Jakub Krako – Slovakia

At the Vancouver 2010 Paralympic Winter Games, Krako won three gold medals in Alpine Skiing.

Esther Vergeer – the Netherlands

Vergeer has had an unbeaten run in Wheelchair Tennis singles which dates back eight years and totals more than 400 matches.

Lauren Woolstencroft – Canada

In front of her home crowd, Woolstencroft took five gold medals in Alpine Skiing at the Vancouver 2010 Paralympic Winter Games.

The full list of nominees for the 2011 Laureus World Sports Awards can be found at www.laureus.com.