Ennis, Murray and Coe honoured at Laureus Awards ceremony in Rio after stunning year for British sport

By LAURA WILLIAMSON

PUBLISHED: 01:11, 12 March 2013 | UPDATED: 02:29, 12 March 2013

After such a glorious year for British sport, we should be forgiven for wanting to continue the London 2012 party just a little while longer.

British athletes, past and present, dominated at the Laureus World Sports awards in Rio de Janeiro on Monday night, as the world of international sport gathered at a glittering ceremony to celebrate an unforgettable year.

Britain may have handed over the Olympic and Paralympic flames to the 2016 host city, but the memory of London 2012 still burnt particularly bright 6,000 miles away in south America on Monday night.

Congratulations: Track and field athlete Jessica Ennis receives her award for 'Laureus Sportswomen of the Year' as presenters Nadia Comaneci and Eva Longoria look on

Couldn't make it: Andy Murray accepts his award on video because he was in Indian Wells to face Evgeny Donskoy

The winners...

World Sportsman of the Year – Usain Bolt

World Sportswoman of the Year – Jessica Ennis

World Breakthrough of the Year – Andy Murray

World Comeback of the Year – Felix Sanchez

World Sportsperson of the Year with a Disability –Daniel Dias

Laureus Academy Exceptional Achievement Award – Michael Phelps

Laureus Lifetime Achievement Award – Sebastian Coe

World Team of the Year – European Ryder Cup Team

World Action Sportsperson of the Year – Felix Baumgarter

Olympic heptathlon champion Jessica Ennis was crowned World Sportswoman of the Year, while Andy Murray won World Breakthrough and Sebastian Coe received the Lifetime Achievement Award. Ian Poulter also accepted the Team of the Year prize on behalf of his European Ryder Cup team-mates.

Tony Blair called Lord Coe one of the ‘giants of British sport’ as the chairman of the London 2012 organising committee and double Olympic champion received the Lifetime Achievement Award from Edwin Moses and was honoured with a standing ovation.

‘I’m surrounded by the most extraordinary group of people, global icons,’ said Lord Coe, ‘and I realise that there is a commonality in the unshakeable belief we have in sport and the fact it transforms lives. This is extraordinary. I’m very, very flattered.’

Ennis beat off competition from fellow Olympic track and field gold medallists Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce and Allyson Felix, swimmer Missy Franklin, skier Lindsey Vonn and tennis star Serena Williams to win her award, which was presented by former gymnast Nadia Comanechi.

A few hours earlier in a luxurious Rio hotel, Ennis had been discussing her shock and sadness at the closure of Don Valley Stadium in her hometown of Sheffield. Yet she looked equally composed collecting her award at the city’s dramatic Theatro Muncipal last night, during her 36-hour trip to the city in which she will aim to defend her Olympic title in three years’ time. We all know about the extraordinary pressure Ennis was under as the poster girl of London 2012, but it was poignant to see how the sporting world has realised it, too.

‘There was a lot of pressure in London,’ she said. ‘I looked back to what Cathy Freeman achieved in Sydney in 2000 (winning the 400 metres) and I really wanted to emulate that. I have incredible support from my friends and family and I was able to do it.’

Triumphant: Lord Sebastian Coe (above) won the Laureus Lifetime Achievement award while Usain Bolt (right and below) was crowned World Sportsman of the Year

The winners are chosen by the Laureus Sports Academy, comprising 46 of the ‘greatest living sportsmen and sportswomen’, including Sir Bobby Charlton, Daley Thompson and Sir Steve Redgrave, who were all in Rio. Double Olympic decathlon champion Thompson, however, was the only Academy member in a T-Shirt and tracksuit.

Thompson said: ‘Jessica’s performance was majestic. She had the whole weight of the country’s expectation on her shoulders. Despite that, she certainly delivered.

‘She not only produced a wonderful display in her events but she gave the British team an enormous lift. Jessica showed she could win a gold medal, so everyone who followed her also felt they could do it as well.’

Murray was another British winner, receiving the Laureus Breakthrough award after winning Olympic gold and silver and his first Grand Slam at the US Open champion last September.

The Scot, 25, did not attend the ceremony owing to playing commitments in Indian Wells, but said: ‘It was an amazing year: my first Grand Slam in New York and two medals at the Olympics in my home country.

Acceptance: Bolt takes his award from Michael Johnson, while Laureus Academy chairman Edwin Moses hands the Laureus Lifetime Achievement Award to Coe

'I would have taken that at the start of the year, that’s for sure. Winning an award like this will definitely make me more determined to come back and do better in 2013.’

A video was shown of Poulter receiving the Team of the Year award to mark Europe’s thrilling comeback to win the Ryder Cup.

‘With the legends in sport that have voted for us, it truly is a special trophy to put our hands on,’ he said. 

Redgrave presented Michael Phelps with the inaugural Exceptional Achievement Award, while Mark Spitz also paid the American a tribute via video link. Phelps, though, was emphatic he has no intention of trying to add to his 22 Olympic medals in Rio in 2016.

Other winners included Usain Bolt, who won gold in the 100m, 200m and 4 x 100m relay in London and became Sportsmen of the Year for the third time, and Felix Sanchez, the Olympic 400m hurdles champion in 2012 – eight years after his Olympic title in Athens.

Brazilian swimmer Daniel Dias, who won six individual gold medals at the Paralympic Games, fended off competition from Britain’s David Weir to win Sportsperson of the Year with a Disability. Austrian skydiver Felix Baumgarter, who became the first human to go through the sound barrier when he completed a 24-mile free fall over New Mexico in October, was named World Action Sportsperson of the Year.

Nice work: Michael Phelps poses with the Laureus Academy Exceptional Achievement Award in the winners studio at Theatro Municipal do Rio de Janeiro

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/othersports/article-2291902/Andy-Murray-Jessica-Ennis-Sebastian-Coe-win-Laureus-Awards.html#ixzz2NJk4oRau
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Kaymer holds his nerve on the 18th as Euro stars retain Ryder Cup

Miracle men! Kaymer holds his nerve on the 18th as Euro stars retain Ryder Cup

By DEREK LAWRENSON

PUBLISHED: 23:13, 30 September 2012 | UPDATED: 01:09, 1 October 2012

Europe completed the most amazing comeback in Ryder Cup history on Sunday night to win the trophy and spark incredible scenes of delirium.

Dressed in Seve blue, they did justice to the great man’s memory with a performance that almost defied belief. Everywhere you looked there were displays that took the breath away. 

Magic moment: Kaymer sinks the winning put on the 18th green before running over to celebrate with his team-mates

RYDER CUP ESSENTIALS

Click here to re-live the action as it happened 

Click here for all the statistics from Medinah

Trailing by four points overnight, five men from the United Kingdom gave them the start that will be talked about for years. Then came the unsung continentals, as Sergio Garcia and Martin Kaymer dredged the depths of their memory and conjured up rounds fit to compare with their great displays of old.

Twenty-one years after Bernhard Langer missed a five foot putt on the 18th green to lose a Ryder Cup, his countryman Kaymer holed one from similar length to retain the trophy. Looking to the heavens, poor Jose Maria Olazabal broke down in tears.

Luke who's talking: Donald won the first match of the day

For two days the chants of ‘USA! USA!’ had rung out around this property. Now they were replaced with cries of ‘Ole, Ole’ as those who had made the long and expensive journey from Europe bore witness to moments that were priceless. ‘You’re not singing anymore,’ they chanted.

Everywhere you looked there were heroes but one man stood head and shoulders above the rest. 

Whatever else Ian Poulter achieves in his career he can always look back on a Ryder Cup he changed singlehandedly. It had looked all over on Saturday night with Europe trailing by six points at one stage, but Poults bulged his eyes and swung his putter to devastating effect to win his fourballs match with Rory McIlroy. It reduced the deficit to four and changed everything in the European team room.

Nerves of steel: Poulter continued his fine form to see off Webb Simpson

No away team had ever come back from four points down to win the Ryder Cup - the Americans at Brookline in 1999 are the only team to do it at home - but Europe now had a glimmer of hope.

‘There was a real energy about our team meeting last night and that was all down to Poults,’ vice-captain Paul McGinley told Sportsmail. ‘He gave us some momentum for the first time because up to then it had been flat. The Poults legend at the Ryder Cup continues.’ 

Take a bow, the UK’s leading lights. Luke Donald was sent out first to quieten his hometown crowd and bring down one of the totemic figures in the American team, Bubba Watson.

No 1: McIlroy overcame a strong challenge from Keegan Bradley

 

After a disappointing Ryder Cup to that point, the Englishman did his job brilliantly to win by a margin of two and one and put the first point on the board. Now the deficit was three. Paul Lawrie was next to finish, taking out Brandt Snedeker with a display of wonderfully controlled golf.

Rory McIlroy only made it through the gates before his match with 11 minutes to spare. It is hard to think of a more embarrassing episode in recent Ryder Cup history, but in the end it doesn’t matter. No preparation? No problem, as he played wonderfully to beat America’s man of the match to that point, Keegan Bradley. What a performance from Rory. With the vast hordes gathered on the 17th hole, the 23-year-old genius took a well-deserved bow. Now the points deficit was just one.

Then came Poulter. Would he be able to come back down to earth quickly enough after his Saturday heroics? What do you think?

Coming up Rose's: Justin Rose won the last two holes to win a thriller against Mickelson

A chip-in at the first suggested as much, and it heralded a marvellous encounter against the US Open champion, Webb Simpson. 

Poulter was two down early on but came back as he always does. He made a miraculous par at the 16th and then won the 17th, before closing out the match at the 18th. 

It took his return for the week to four points out of four and his Ryder Cup return to 12 wins against just three losses. He’s always been brilliant in these games. Here he was off the charts.

Braveheart: Lawrie (right) easily saw off Snedeker

Europe were level but only for a second, as Dustin Johnson beat Nicolas Colsaerts.

Then came Justin Rose against Phil Mickelson. It looked all over for Rose when Mickelson had a short putt to win the 15th to go two up with three to play. 

But he missed and how costly it was to prove as Rose put together the finish of a lifetime. At the 16th he holed a clutch putt for a half and then at the 17th holed from 45ft to square the match. 

Johnson and Johnson: American duo Dustin (above) and Zach (below) won the hosts' first points of the day

The sporting Mickelson applauded Rose, but there was more as the Englishman birdied the last as well for a sensational victory.

Europe were level at 11 points each. Zach Johnson edged America closer with a victory over Graeme McDowell, but Lee Westwood answered with a gutsy performance, given his problems over the first two days.

The unbearable pressure the Americans were now under was summed up as Jim Furyk choked horribly to gift a point to Garcia. 

Making amends: Westwood bounced back from a shaky first two days to beat Kuchar

Then came Kaymer in the penultimate match against Steve Stricker. After holing the putt Kaymer ran in ecstasy into the embrace of his team mates.

Europe’s team and followers went mad. Back in the fairway, there was one match that had become meaningless. It involved Tiger Woods and rather summed up his Ryder Cup career. When he got to the green, Woods had to putt out to a background of rapturous European singing. 

Down and out: Furyk reacts after his missed putt on the 18th hands victory to Garcia

Tiger had a four-foot putt to win his match against Francesco Molinari and missed. Woods had had enough, conceding Molinari a putt that was very missable. The halved point gained by Molinari meant Europe had not just retained the trophy but won it outright.

What an incredible day. This amazing sporting year had just enjoyed the encore it deserved.

Job done: Kaymer pumps his fists to hail the victory

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/golf/article-2210938/Ryder-Cup-2012-Europe-win-Martin-Kaymer-holds-nerve.html#ixzz280FBxdaX
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EUROPE14½13½USA

SUNDAY SINGLES

L. Donald		Wins 2 & 1 details	B. Watson
I. Poulter		Wins 2Up details	W. Simpson
R. McIlroy		Wins 2 & 1 details	K. Bradley
J. Rose		Wins 1Up details	P. Mickelson
P. Lawrie		Wins 5 & 3 details	B. Snedeker
N. Colsaerts		Wins 3 & 2 details	D. Johnson
G. McDowell		Wins 2 & 1 details	Z. Johnson
S. Garcia		Wins 1Up details	J. Furyk
P. Hanson		Wins 2Up details	J. Dufner
L. Westwood		Wins 3 & 2 details	M. Kuchar
M. Kaymer		Wins 1Up details	S. Stricker
F. Molinari		Halved details	T. Woods
Last Update: 7:22 PM CT

SATURDAY AFTERNOON FOUR-BALL

N. Colsaerts / P. Lawrie		Wins 1Up details	D. Johnson / M. Kuchar
J. Rose / F. Molinari		Wins 5 & 4 details	B. Watson / W. Simpson
S. Garcia / L. Donald		Wins 1Up details	T. Woods / S. Stricker
R. McIlroy / I. Poulter		Wins 1Up details	J. Dufner / Z. Johnson
Last Update: 7:53 PM CT

SATURDAY MORNING FOURSOMES

J. Rose / I. Poulter		Wins 1Up details	B. Watson / W. Simpson
L. Westwood / L. Donald		Wins 7 & 6 details	K. Bradley / P. Mickelson
N. Colsaerts / S. Garcia		Wins 2 & 1 details	J. Dufner / Z. Johnson
R. McIlroy / G. McDowell		Wins 1Up details	J. Furyk / B. Snedeker
Last Update: 7:53 PM CT

FRIDAY AFTERNOON FOUR-BALL

P. Lawrie / P. Hanson		Wins 5 & 4 details	B. Watson / W. Simpson
R. McIlroy / G. McDowell		Wins 2 & 1 details	P. Mickelson / K. Bradley
J. Rose / M. Kaymer		Wins 3 & 2 details	D. Johnson / M. Kuchar
L. Westwood / N. Colsaerts		Wins 1Up details	T. Woods / S. Stricker
Last Update: 7:27 PM CT

FRIDAY MORNING FOURSOMES

R. McIlroy / G. McDowell		Wins 1Up details	J. Furyk / B. Snedeker
L. Donald / S. Garcia		Wins 4 & 3 details	P. Mickelson / K. Bradley
L. Westwood / F. Molinari		Wins 3 & 2 details	J. Dufner / Z. Johnson
I. Poulter / J. Rose		Wins 2 & 1 details	S. Stricker / T. Woods
Last Update: 7:27 PM CT