11 winners at the 2015 Laureus Awards

The Laureus Sports Awards for the year 2015 were announced on Wednesday night at a grand ceremony held in Shanghai. A total of 9 extraordinary athletes were given the prestigious award, and there were also two well-known sporting personalities who were inducted into the Laureus Hall of Fame.Here are the full details of the award winners from the ceremony.

#1 Sportsman of the Year

World No.1 Novak Djokovic took home the Sportsman of the year award for an outstanding 2014, where he won 5 Masters title, the 2014 Wimbledon title as well as the season-ending ATP Tour finals in London.

He began his 2015 with a bang as well, winning the first Grand Slam of the year, the Australian Open in Melbourne.

The other nominees in the category included Real Madrid forward Cristiano Ronaldo, F1 driver Lewis Hamilton, Golf star Rory McIlroy, French pole vaulter Renaud Lavellenie and defending Moto GP champion Marc Marquez.

#2 Sportswoman of the Year

Genzebe Dibaba of Ethiopia took home the Laureus Sportswomen of the year for 2015, thanks to triple record-breaking feat in February earlier this year, where she smashed the indoor 1500 metres, the 3000 metres before breaking the two-mile record.

The 24-year-old is also a two-time Gold medalist at the World Indoor Championship(2012, 2014) and won the gold in the 2014 Continental Cup in the 3000 m category.

#3 Breakthrough of the Year

The breakthrough of the year award went to Red Bull F1 driver Daniel Ricciardo, who after replacing fellow Australian Mark Webber, won three Grand Prix at Canada, Hungary and Belgium in his maiden stint in Formula 1. He even did better than teammate and former World Champion Sebastian Vettel at Red Bull over the course of 2014.

He is currently 8th in the standings after three races of the 2015 Formula 1 season.

#4 Team of the Year

Oliver Bierhoff, the manager of the German Football Team with the Team of the Year award

For helping their nation win their first FIFA World Cup in 24 years, the German Football team was awarded the Team of the Year. Courtesy a goal from Mario Gotze in the final against Argentina, the German ended their long wait of getting their hands on the coveted trophy in front of 74,738 spectators at the Maracana Stadium in Rio De Janerio in July last year.

#5 Exceptional Achievement Award

Li Na, who retired from Tennis in September last year, was awarded the Laureus Exceptional Achievement Award. The 33-year-old played a key role in the upliftment of Asian Tennis, by winning two Grand Slams – the Australian Open in 2014 and the French Open in 2011. She also rose to as high as World No.2 in tennis rankings in February 2014.

She ended her career as the World No.6.

#6 Comeback of the Year

The comeback of the year went to South African rugby player Schalk Burger. The 32-year-old from Port Elizabeth made a comeback into the game after he was diagnosed with bacterial meningitis whcih was cused due to a cyst that had developed next to his spinal cord in the 2012-13 season.

However, he made a remarakable return to the game in September 2013, coming on as a substitute for the final 20 minutes of a Currie Cup game.

#7 Sportsperson of the Year award with a disability

USA’s Tatyana McFadden won the Laureus World Sportsperson of the Year award with a disability after she completed a marathon Grand Slam, winning in Boston, Chicago, London and New York.

The 25-year-old Russian-born Paralympian has 10 Paralympic medals in multiple Summer Paralympic Games. She won the silver medal at the 2014 Paralympic Games, held in Sochi in the 1 km sprint category and also finished first in the women’s division of the New York City marathon last year with a time of 1:42:16.

#8 Action Sportsperson of the Year

Alan Eustace won the Laureus award for the Action Sportsperson of the Year for dropping from a height of 1,35,889 feet and breaking the previous record held by Felix Baumgartner, in a drop that lasted an astonishing 15 minutes.

#9 Sports for Good Award

Skaketiestan, an international Non-Governmental Organisation, that uses skateboarding and other educational activities to build trust and provide empowerment for children from a range of ethnicities and socio-economic backgrounds , won the Laureus award for Sports for Good.

#10 Laureus World Sports Academy inductee - Sachin Tendulkar

Indian batting legend Sachin Tendulkar was inducted into the Laureus World Sports Academy on Wednesday night. The 41-year-old amassed 15,921 runs in 200 Tests and 18,429 runs in 463 ODIs during a stellar career that lasted for 24 years between 1989 and 2013.

He was also part of 6 World Cup campaigns between 1992 and 2011 and got the chance to lift the trophy in his final appearance in 2011 in front of his home fans in Mumbai.

#11 Laureus World Sports Inductee - Yao Ming

Joining Tendulkar was former Housten Rockets basketball star Yao Ming.

The 34-year-old had an established career in the NBA, where he was part of the All Star NBA team five times and also represented the Western Conference in the NBA All-Star team on eight occasions.

Along with Tendulkar and Yao, Kenyan long-distance runner Tegla Loroupe, Chinese gymnast Li Xianpong and former Chinese short-track speed skater Yang Yang were also inducted into the academy.