It's been another year of mouth-watering action for all sports fans, with some truly scintillating performances from the sports stars we've undoubtedly elevated to near-deity status. I had the unenviable task of picking one sportsman, and only one, who thrilled sports fans with his performances in 2008.

The nominees for Sportsman of the Year are:

Usain Bolt: The lanky Jamaican earns his nomination for cruising to three gold medals and the world records in the 100m, 200m and 4x100m relay sprints at the Beijing Olympics. He became the first man since Carl Lewis in 1984 to achieve the treble at an Olympic Games. The fastest man in the world also helped Jamaica break the USA's hold on Olympic sprint events.

Lewis Hamilton: Hamilton cracks the nod after he notched his first F1 world championship in dramatic fashion at the final race of the season. His season-long battle with his Ferrari rival, Felipe Massa, will go down as one of the great F1 title battles of all time. The fact that Hamilton is dating the PussyCat Dolls' lead singer, Nicole Scherzinger, did not exactly hurt his chances either…

Padraig Harrington: Harrington's two Major wins puts him in contention for Sportsman of the Year. The Irishman held his nerve to win the Open Championship by four strokes while he beat off Spaniard Sergio Garcia to take the PGA Championship by two strokes.

Chris Hoy: Hoy added to his two previous Olympic medals by becoming the first Scot to win three gold medals at one Olympic Games when he claimed the team sprint, Keirin and individual sprint golds for Team Great Britain at the Beijing Olympic Games.

Felipe Massa: Felipe Massa was exceptional as he fought Lewis Hamilton for the F1 title. He recovered from two non-finishes early in the season and an embarrassing Silverstone outing to push his McLaren rival all the way to the final race of the season. Despite winning that finale in Brazil, it wasn't enough to hand him his maiden title. Massa gets the nod or making a two-horse F1 title race exceptionally exciting.

Richie McCaw: The big flanker lifted the Super 14 trophy with the Crusaders, led the All Blacks to glory in the Tri-Nations and Bledisloe Cup and trampled all over the Northern hemisphere's pretenders on the way to the All Blacks’ Grand Slam. And he didn't even get a sniff at the IRB awards. We think it appropriate that McCaw has a crack at our award.

Rafael Nadal: This brawny Spaniard stamped his authority on the tennis court in 2008. He trounced Roger Federer at the French Open, then destroyed him in a pulsating match at Wimbledon, toppled him from the top spot, led Spain all the way to the Davis Cup final (which he missed due to injury) and picked up an Olympic gold medal. Those are just Nadal's highlights. And at only 22 years of age, we are expecting him be at the top for a while longer.

Michael Phelps: The man must be part fish because he blitzed his way to eight Olympic gold medals in the pool in Beijing with relative ease — barring one scare. His gold medal haul in Beijing surpasses that of another great Olympian, Mark Spitz, who grabbed seven golds in 1972. Phelps also set seven swimming world records in 2008.

Cristiano Ronaldo: Love him or hate him the Portuguese winger set the year alight with his scintillating performances on the football pitch. He plundered 31 goals in the English Premier League as he lead Manchester United to the league title while he also shone on the European stage as Manchester United were crowned Champions League winners too. He ended the season on 42 goals in all competitions. He has picked up numerous Golden Boot awards and has also received the coveted Ballon d'Or award. Ronaldo is also a shoe-in for the FIFA world Player of the Year award.

Valentino Rossi: After two years of technical woe and ill fortune, the Doctor finally got back to his rightful place in MotoGP - the top step of the podium. Valentino Rossi weathered the challenges of Honda's Dani Pedrosa and 2007 title holder Casey Stoner to romp to his sixth world title in motorcyling's elite class and his eighth world title overall. On his way to glory, Rossi passed motorcycling great Giacomo Agostini's long-standing record of most wins. Agostini's was 68. Rossi's is 71. Long live the Doctor.

Dale Steyn: Lightning quick and with an aggressive streak to boot, Dale Steyn is a joy to watch on the cricket pitch. In 2008 he was imperious, seemingly picking up wickets at will. The West Indies, India, Bangladesh and England all faced his wrath and none had any answers to his pace. Steyn was also named as the ICC's Test player of the Year for 2008. Did we mention he's South African?

Fernando Torres: The Spanish hitman had a truly phenomenal year in his debut season with Liverpool. Torres' impact with the Reds was spectacular as he scored 24 goals in the Premier League on his way to breaking a number of long-standing club records. His goals saw the club end fourth in the title race while he also helped his Liverpool reach the semi-finals of the Champions League. He did, however, taste glory when helped Spain end their 40-year trophy drought, when he scored the winner in the UEFA European Championship final against Germany.

And now it's time to reveal the winner.

Drum roll please...

And the winner is... Michael Phelps. The American swept all before him at the Olympic Games and we can’t see anyone beating his record for one hell of a long time — except maybe Phelps himself, of course.

  • Is Phelps the right choice? Who is your Sportsman of the Year? Leave a comment below!
    RSS
    Digg
    de.li.cious
    facebook


    Print this page
    Send this article to a friend