Brazilian swimmer Daniel Dias has been named the 2009 Laureus World Sportsperson of the Year with a Disability by the Laureus World Sports Academy. Dias, who has a triple amputation, won four gold, four silver, and one bronze medal in the 2008 Paralympic Games.
The Laureus World Sports Awards honor the world’s best athletes and celebrate sporting excellence across all disciplines and continents each year. The winners are selected by a jury, including members of the Laureus World Sports Academy, and are bestowed in a range of categories, including World Sportsman and World Sportswoman of the Year, World Team of the Year, World Breakthrough of the Year, World Comeback of the Year, World Sportsperson of the Year with a Disability, and World Action Sportsperson of the Year.
After receiving the Laureus statuette from presenters Sebastian Coe and Edwin Moses, Dias said, “I am so grateful to the members of the Laureus Academy for giving me this award. This is such a great honor. The Laureus Disability Award is held in the highest regard in the Paralympic world, and I am overwhelmed with gratitude to receive it. This is also important recognition for my sport of swimming and will help with my mission to encourage young swimmers with a disability in Brazil to take up sport. I thank Laureus with all my heart.”
Dias has become one of the biggest sports stars in Brazil, promoting Paralympic sport and being a role model for younger athletes.
Moses, chair of the Laureus World Sports Academy, said, “I offer Daniel my most sincere congratulations. His record is absolutely phenomenal. His success in Beijing was exceptional, and he has shown he has tremendous internal strength to achieve what he has in his career already. He was only 21 last month, so it is amazing to think what he may be able to accomplish in the future. He has so many years ahead of him. I would also like to congratulate him on the great work he does in Brazil to promote disability sport.”
Other nominees in the category for Laureus Sportsperson of the Year with a Disability were April Holmes (Athletics, United States), Darren Kenny (Cycling, Great Britain), Jonas Jacobsson (Shooting, Sweden), Teresa Perales (Swimming, Spain), Zhang Lixin (Athletics, China).
