Oscar Pistorius garnered two nominations-in the Breakthrough of the Year Award and Disability Award categories-in the nominations for the 2012 Laureus World Sports Awards, which follow a ballot by the world’s media.
Pistorius emerged as a Breakthrough of the Year-award nominee after becoming the first amputee to win a track medal in the non-disabled world athletics championships. In addition to Pistorius, the line-up for the Disability Award features Dutch wheelchair tennis star Esther Vergeer, British wheelchair racer David Weir, and Russian cross-country skier Irek Zaripov. Brazil has two nominations-swimmer Daniel Dias and visually impaired runner Terezinha Guilhermina.
The winners will be decided by a jury of 47 sportsmen and sportswomen who make up the Laureus World Sports Academy, and will be announced at an awards ceremony at Central Hall, Westminster in London, England, on February 6.
Proceeds from the Laureus World Sports Awards directly benefit and underpin the work of the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation, which supports 89 community-sports projects around the world. Since its inception, Laureus has raised €40 million for projects that have improved the lives of more than 1.5 million young people.
