By Anca Dumitru, Digital Journal;  Posted February 6, 2012

The beautiful city of London stages for the first time in history after Abu Dhabi, St. Petersburg and Monaco, the annual Oscars of sports, known as the Laureus World Sports Awards.
The ceremony will be broadcast to a worldwide TV audience from London’s Central Hall, Westminster, on the evening of Monday, February 6, 2012. The Laureus World Sports Awards celebrates the world’s finest sportsmen and women of the year, honoring their outstanding performances and achievements. With less than six months until the London Olympics, there cannot be a better way to start the Olympic year. Golden Globe and BAFTA award winning actor Clive Owen will host the event. He is taking over this part from American actor Kevin Spacey, who was an exceptional host at the previous two editions of Laureus Awards, both of them staged in Abu Dhabi. The nominations include 42 athletes and teams in seven different categories. Serbian tennis champion Novak Djokovic is one of the top favourites for the Laureus World Sportsman of the Year award, closely followed by footballer Lionel Messi, sprinter Usain Bolt, Formula One driver Sebastian Vettel, basketball player Dirk Nowitzki and cyclist Cadel Evans. World number one tennis player Djokovic comes to London after a brilliant victory at the 2012 Australian Open, where he defeated Rafael Nadal in the longest men’s singles Grand Slam final ever. The Serb had a fantastic year in 2011 with an astonishing winning record of 70-6 and won the crown of Australian, Wimbledon and US Open Grand Slams. In the competition for the Laureus World Sportswoman of the Year, Kenyan athlete Vivian Cheruiyot is the top contender. In the same category, she is in a great company alongside tennis player Petra Kvitova, skier Maria Höfl-Riesch, sprinter Carmelita Jeter, golfer Yani Tseng and footballer Homare Sawa.

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