Two Chinese athletes were also nominated for other categories -triple Olympic gold meda list Zou Kai (gymnastics) in the Breakthrough of the Year award nominees list while Zhang Lixin in Sportsperson of the Year with a Disability.

Usain Bolt and Michael Phelps were among the nominees for the Laureus World Sportsman of the Year award.

Chinese Olympic delegation clinched 51 gold, 21 silver and 28 bronze in last year's Beijing Games to achieve its best ever Olympics result.

The other contenders for this category includes 17-time NBA champions Boston Celtics, British Olympic cycle team with eight gold from Beijing, Jamaica Olympic sprint team for their near clean sweep of Olympic sprint medals, European Champions League and English premier league winners Manchester United and European champions Spanish national soccer team.

The World Sportsman of the Year is a tough category which also boasts Formula One champion Lewis Hamilton, French Open and Wimbledon winner Rafael Nadal, FIFA world player of the year Cristiano Ronaldo and MotoGP world champion Valentino Rossi.

Lindsey Vonn was among the nominees for the Sportswoman of the Year award. The American alpine skier won her first overall World Cup title last year, and repeated the feat this season.

Ethiopian runner Tirunesh Dibaba, who became the first woman to win the 5,000 and 10,000 meters at the same Olympics, was also nominated.

Russian pole vaulter Yelena Isinbayeva, Mexican golfer Lorena Ochoa, Australian swimmer Stephanie Rice and Wimbledon champion Venus Williams are the other athletes on the list.

The nominees were chosen by international sports journalists. The winners will be selected by members of the Laureus Sports Academy.

The winners will receive their awards this year at individual presentations during May and June as the awarding ceremony gala was scrapped amid global economic crisis.