The Hitch said:
Mo farah has been named 1 of the 5 nominees for.laureus because he did the 5 10 double.
Six nominees - Bolt, Wiggins, Farah, Messi, Phelps, Vettel - Bolt ought to win from that group.
In 2008 kenenisa bekele did the 5 10 double in significantly faster times and more.impressive fashions, setting Olympic records for both races. He was a younger athlete, an Olympic gold and silver medalist from the previous Olympics and a 3 time.world.champion .
But his efforts.were.deemed unworthy for a nomination
He was nominated in 2010. Every years has its oddities. Valentino Rossi?
But Bekele has been nominated.
But more to the point. The Laureus awards are, and are designed to be, a completely Western Eurocentric award - international sports AS VIEWED FROM EUROPE - compare the ESPY in north America. Look for example at every nomination since 2000 in male of the year at Laureus.
Not a single cricketer. No Tendulkar, No Dhoni. No mention of the iconic 2005 Ashes.
not a single chinese in ANY sport. No gymnast.
They are NOT in ANY way indicative of the
global sports market - only the western european, with maybe a nod to the USA. And they take account of Narrative. and like it or not, for large parts of the West, 2012 was the year of the Brit - Wiggins in Le Tour, Mo's double, Jess Ennis, Murray in New York.
Frankly I'm stunned Vettel is there this year. But an athlete who finally broke the west African domination of distance running? That ain't a surprise, Bekele or no Bekele....
Out of interest, Greg Lemond won l'equipe world athlete of the year in 1989 - no cyclist has won it since....