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Jamaica's track genius Usain Bolt has been named Laureus World Sportsman of the Year for the second straight time, after continuing his amazing blitz on sprinting in 2009 when he won three more gold medals at the World Championships.
US tennis star Serena Williams won her second Laureus Sportswoman of the Year Award, seven years after her first, following Grand Slam victories in Australia and at Wimbledon. It was her third Laureus award in total, after also winning the comeback award in 2007.
Formula One was a big winner in Abu Dhabi as Britain's Jenson Button won the Breakthrough of the Year Award following his first world drivers' championship, and the Brawn GP Team, for whom Button drove in 2009, was named World Team of the Year.
Belgium's Kim Clijsters won the World Comeback of the Year Award after her remarkable return to tennis in 2009 when she won the US Open Grand Slam in only her third tournament following a two-year absence.
There was a warm reception at the awards ceremony for courageous South African swimmer Natalie du Toit, who is breaking down the barriers between disabled and able-bodied sport, as she received the Disability Award, while Australia's three-times world surfing champion Stephanie Gilmore was named World Action Sportsperson of the Year.
Laureus academy member Nawal El Moutawakel received the Lifetime Achievement Award for her work for women in sport and the International Olympic Committee. And the Sport for Good Award went to American basketball legend Dikembe Mutombo, for his charitable work in his native Congo.
The awards, which recognise sporting achievement during the period January 1 to December 31, 2009, are the premier honours on the international sporting calendar. The winners are chosen by the Laureus World Sports Academy, the ultimate sports jury, made up of 46 of the greatest sportsmen and sportswomen of all time.
The names of the winners were announced at a televised awards ceremony staged at the Emirates Palace in Abu Dhabi which also celebrated the first 10 years in the life of Laureus and was attended by global figures from the world of sport and entertainment.
Double Oscar-winning Hollywood star Kevin Spacey hosted the event. Among the guests at the Emirates Palace were Oscar-winning actress Gwyneth Paltrow, British film star Hugh Grant, American actors Kyle MacLachlan from Desperate Housewives and Michelle Rodriguez who played leading roles in the Oscar-winning movie Avatar and the TV series Lost, Grammy nominated singer-songwriter Mika who earlier drew up to the red carpet in a spectacular gull-wing Mercedes-Benz, England Test cricketer Andrew Flintoff, supermodel Jessica Michibata ... and GulfWeekly editor Stan Szecowka.
