ATHLETICS: The all-conquering Sally Pearson has been named as a contender for the prestigious Laureus Sportswoman of the Year award.

The 26-year old was nominated after winning the hurdles gold medal at the London Olympics in an Olympic record time of 12.35 seconds.

Pearson’s performance was a notch up from her silver medal performance at the Beijing Olympics, and as the World Champion and a member of a national Team whose Games performance was being heavily scrutinised,  “Pearson was under enormous pressure to deliver" according to a statement from Laureus on Tuesday.

Pearson became the first Australian woman to win Olympic gold on the track since Cathy Freeman in 2000. Incidentally, Freeman won the Laureus Sportswoman of the Year award in 2001 after winning the 400m in Sydney.

Fellow track and field gold medallists Jessica Ennis (Great Britain), Allyson Felix (USA), Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce (Jamaica) and Valerie Adams (NZ) are also in contention for the top honour.

Their credentials speak for themselves- Ennis managed to win the heptathlon with the weight of the host nation on her shoulders; Felix won an incredible three gold medals in London to match the great Wilma Rudolph and Florence Griffith-Joyner; Jamaica’s female sprint star Fraser-Pryce won a gold medal and two silver medals; Adams defended her shot put Olympic title (after Belarus’ Nadzeya Ostapchuk failed a drugs test). All of these women will also go head-to-head for the IAAF Female Athlete of the Year which Pearson won last year.

Swimmer Missy Franklin (USA), wrestler Saori Yoshid (Japan) and three-time Laureus winner Serena Williams (USA) will also vie for the Laureus Sportswoman of the Year award.

Williams first won the award in 2003 and claimed it again in 2010 and 2011. This year Williams won a fifth Wimbledon crown, fourth US Open title and collected the Olympic singles and doubles gold medals. Williams became the first player since Steffi Graf to win the so-called Career Golden Grand Slam after winning all four Grand Slam tournaments during her career and the Olympic singles gold medal.

"You have to be amazed at the ability of Serena Williams to keep coming back after injuries to produce one of her best years, both inside and outside the Olympics, but there were some great gold medal-winning displays in all sports," former Romanian gymnast and Olympic multiple gold medallist Nadia Comaneci said.

A shortlist of six nominees, decided by a panel of sports media representatives, will be announced on December 13 at a function in Rio, with the overall winner to be named at a date to be confirmed.

"It is going to be difficult for the media to choose just six of these great athletes."

Taya Conomos and AAP
Olympics.com.au