Nadal, Osaka, Murray and Gauf among nominees for Laureus Awards

Tennis stars Rafael Nal and Naomi Osaka along with teen sensation Coco Gauf are competing for this year's Laureus Awards after being minated in different categories on Wednesday. Three-time winner and world number one Spaniard Nal is in contention for 'World Sportsman of Year' award alongside six-time Formula 1 World champion Lewis Hamilton, six-time World MotoGP champion Marc Mrquez and six-time FIFA World Footballer of Year Lionel Messi.  Also minated in same category are Eliud Kipchoge, first athlete to run a marathon in under two hours and golf legend Tiger Woods, who won his 15th Major Championship at Masters.  awards Ceremony will be held in Berlin on February 17.

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Nal, Osaka, Murray and Gauf among minees

In 'World Sportswoman of Year' category, Osaka, first Asian tennis player to be ranked number one in singles is competing with FIFA Women's World Cup Golden Ball and Golden Boot winner Megan Rapie, gymnastic great Simone Biles, sprinters Allyson Felix and Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce along with US skiing great Mikaela Shiffrin. FIFA Women's World Cup champions USA Women's Football Team and UEFA Champions League winners Liverpool FC are football minees in Laureus World Team of Year category.  Joining m are six-time Formula 1 Drivers and Constructors World Champions Mercedes AMG Petronas, Rugby World Cup champions South Africa, first Canian team to win NBA Championship Toronto Raptors and two-time FIBA World Cup winners Spain Men's Basketball Team.

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Gauff is joined in 'World Breakthrough of Year' category by Canian tennis player and first woman to win US Open on her debut Bianca Andreescu, Colombia's first ever Tour de France winner Egan Bernal, Rugby World Cup trailblazers Japan Men's Rugby Team, former unified heavyweight boxing champion Andy Ruiz Jr and US swimming star Regan Smith. 'World Comeback of Year' minees personify true spirit, determination and tenacity of athletes who have overcome hurdles to return to playing field.  Andy Murray, who won his first ATP title in 31 months at European Open following two hip operations, is in contention alongside UEFA Champions League semi-final comeback kings Liverpool, unusually minated in two categories. 

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Also minated are 19-year-old German Formula 3 driver Sophia Flrsch, who returned to racing after her car hit a fence at 170mph during a race in 2018, Australian rugby star Christian Lealiifa, who returned to represent his country in Rugby World Cup after battling leukaemia, basketball star Kawhi Leonard, who overcame injury to help Toronto Raptors to ir first NBA Championship and US swimmer Nathan rian who recovered from testicular cancer to win his 15th and 16th world titles. Six of highest achieving para-athletes of 2019 make up minees for Laureus World Sportsperson of Year with a Disability Award.  Cuba's Omara Durand, world's fastest female Paralympian in 2019, is joined by Dutch wheelchair tennis star Diede de Groot, US Paralympic skier and cyclist Oksana Masters, Dutch para-cyclist and para-triathlete Jetze Plat, Swiss marathon star and T54 800m world record breaker Manuela Schr and British seven-time para-swimming World Championships 2019 gold medallist Alice Tai.

In Laureus World Action Sportsperson of Year category, world surfing champions Italo Ferreira and Carissa Moore are joined by 2019 Action Sportsperson winner and swboarding world champion Chloe Kim and 11-year-old Brazilian skateboarder Rayssa Leal, youngest minee for 2020 Laureus Awards.  Also in contention for Action Award are US skateboarding world champion Nyjah Huston and Canian swboarding star and slopestyle X-Games gold medallist Mark McMorris.

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