A spectacular year of sport has set up one of the most exciting contests ever for the 2010 Laureus World Sportsman of the Year Award. The major question in the world of sport is whether anyone can stop the phenomenal Usain Bolt winning a second straight Laureus Award and for us Africans, we wonder if there would be any silverware for us.

Jamaica’s Usain Bolt followed his wonderful Olympic year with an equally spectacular 2009. At the World Championships in Berlin, Bolt won 100 metres, 200 metres and 4x100 metres relay gold medals, just as he had done in Beijing 12 months earlier. In the 100 metres, Bolt improved his world record with a time of 9.58 secs, taking over a tenth of a second off the previous record, the biggest ever margin of improvement since the introduction of electronic timing. He also won the 200 metres gold medal in a new world record time of 19.19 secs, breaking his own record by 0.11 secs.

Ethiopia’s Kenenisa Bekele established himself as one of the greatest distance runners of all time after another remarkable year in which he achieved the first ever 5,000 and 10,000 metres double in the World Athletics Championships, in Berlin. In a front line career of more than eight years, Bekele has never been beaten at 10,000 metres and he has won gold at that distance in four straight World Championships. His double success in Berlin followed an equally stunning 2008 when he became the first man in 25 years to win the 5,000 and 10,000 metres in the same Olympic Games.

Among the other favourites for Nomination is four-time Laureus winner Roger Federer; Hideki Matsui; brilliant young Argentinean footballer Lionel Messi; One of the greatest motor cycle racers of all time, Italy’s Valentino Rossi; Spain’s Alberto Contador; Santonio Holmes; Australian fast bowler Mitchell Johnson; Rated No.1 pound-for-pound boxer in the world by the authoritative Ring magazine, Manny Pacquiao; Michael Phelps; Norway’s Andreas ; and Australia’s Craig Alexander among others.

The Laureus World Sports Awards, which recognise sporting achievement during the period January 1, 2009 - December 31, 2009, are recognised as the premier honours on the international sporting calendar. The names of the six Nominees for the Laureus World Sportsman of the Year Award, as voted by the Laureus Media Selection Panel, will be announced next month. The eventual winners, chosen 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 during a televised Awards Ceremony in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday, March 10, 2010.

Double Olympic gold medallist Edwin Moses, Chairman of the Laureus World Sports Academy, comments: “This promises to be a tremendous fight for this year's Laureus Awards. I can rarely remember a year, outside of the Olympic Games year, when there has been such a strong line-up of potential nominees in the Laureus Sportsman of the Year category. I think the world’s media will have a difficult job coming up with a list of just six from all the possible names and I think there is going to be quite a debate over the next few months about who should win.”

H.E. Khadem Al Qubaisi, Chairman of Aabar Investments PJSC, host partner of the 2010 Laureus World Sports Awards, comments: “We are delighted that Abu Dhabi has been chosen to host the 2010 Laureus World Sports Awards. Sport is close to the hearts of all our people. Abu Dhabi is a city that harmoniously combines historic traditions and modern values. I am confident that active construction of sport facilities and creation of well-developed infrastructure makes Abu Dhabi an ideal venue for sports events of global significance. I am confident that our partnership with the Laureus World Sports Awards will be enormously successful.