Kelly Slater receives 2012 Laureus World Sports Award for Action Sportsperson of the Year in London
American surfing legend Kelly Slater accepted the 2012 Laureus World Sports Award for Action Sportsperson of the Year during a ceremony held at the Central Hall in London, England, on Monday, February 6.
With his latest award, the 39-year-old Slater ties with Switzerland’s tennis legend Roger Federer for receiving the award most number of times, four times to be exact.
The 11-time Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) World Champion had a stellar 2011 and was indeed worthy of the honour that he received in London on Monday.
“I'd like to thank the Laureus Awards for putting this together, recognizing action sports, recognizing what we do, and including us in such an honourable event,” Slater said during his speech at the ceremony. “To have surfing recognized is, for me, just
a huge thing in my life, and to win this award for the fourth time is incredible.”
The Florida-based surfer had not only enjoyed an excellent 2011, but has been dominating the sport for nearly two decades. He holds the boasting rights for becoming the youngest as well as the oldest surfer to become the ASP World Champion.
Slater’s phenomenal performances had earned him the Laureus World Sports Awards in 2007, 09, and 10 before bringing him back on the stage to receive the honours this year.
Other action sports athletes in contention for the award this year included the BMX vert phenom Jamie Bestwick, legendary snowboarder Travis Rice and the young 2011 ASP Women’s World Tour Champion Carissa Moore.
Laureus World Sports Academy conceded in their statement that Slater was undoubtedly the dominant surfer of his generation. It went on to call Slater one of the greatest sportsmen of all time on account of all that he had accomplished during the last two
decades.
Chairman of Laureus Academy Edwin Moses admitted that very few members expected a sportsman to meet the record of Federer for receiving the award four times. However, Slater had managed to do that within just four years.
“It's a remarkable performance, the more so because Kelly just seems to be getting better as he gets older,” said Moses.
Slater is expected to return to action at the opening event of 2012 ASP World Tour, Quiksilver Pro, that is scheduled to get underway from February 25 in Gold Coast, Australia.
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