Real Madrid superstar Cristiano Ronaldo has been nominated for the 'Laureus World Sportsman Of The Year' award in recognition of his achievements over the last 12 months.Always previously won by individuals rather than those from team sport backgrounds, the Laureus World Sports Awards harness the power of sport to promote social change, and celebrate sporting excellence from the previous calendar year.Ronaldo is nominated alongside cyclist Tour de France winner Chris Froome, Gram Slam winning tennis stars Roger Federer and Rafa Nadal, Formula 1 world champion Lewis Hamilton and world champion long distance runner Mo Farah.
In 2017, Ronaldo scored his 400th goal for Real Madrid and his 600th career goal. He also became the first player to score in three Champions League finals, helped his club to a record 12th European title and a first La Liga title since 2012."I am so pleased to be nominated again for the Laureus Sportsman of the Year Award," he said."We had a fantastic year at Real Madrid and I know I wouldn't have been nominated if it wasn't for our great team effort. I want to thank all my team-mates and also the world's media for having placed me among the candidates to win this very special award."(You may also be interested in - 'Cristiano Ronaldo's Sister Has Words of Motivation for Under Fire Brother to Defy Critics')
Former Real teammate and Laureus ambassador Raul said, "Well done to Cristiano on his Nomination for Laureus Sportsman of the Year – again, for the fourth time. He is a phenomenal footballer; a goal scoring machine and he really deserves this after another wonderful year."I was very proud to be the record goalscorer for Real Madrid – and of course I am still very proud of what I achieved, but I knew very early that Cristiano was going to pass me, as he did in 2015. So congratulations to him for that."Then last year he started adding even more big achievements - he passed 400 goals for Real, and more than 600 goals for all the teams he played for in his career. He throws in other amazing successes, like scoring in three Champions League finals. He is just unstoppable."It's always difficult for a team player to win the individual Laureus Sportsman of the Year Award, it has never happened, but maybe it could this year. I cannot think of anyone better than Cristiano to make history and be the first to do this."Ronaldo is not the only footballer recognised by Laureus, with Kylian Mbappe nominated for the breakthrough award alongside golfer Sergio Garcia, basketball player Giannis Antetokounmpo, boxer Anthony Joshua, swimmer Caeleb Dressel and tennis player Jelena Ostapenko.The winners, as voted for by members of The Laureus World Sports Academy, will be revealed in Monaco on February the 27th. For more information about the Laureus World Sports Awards, visit https://awards.laureus.com/