Three American Women have been nominated for the prestigious Laureus World Sports Award 2015

World No. 1 Serena Williams has been nominated for the Laureus SportsWoman of the Year Award 2015.  Williams is no stranger to the Laureus Sports Award having won three-times – Sportswoman’s Award (2003 & 2010) and Comeback Award (2007).  Williams makes a strong case for herself  “after a disappointing start in the first three Grand Slam events, Serena Williams rediscovered her form to win the US Open, her 18th Grand Slam victory, which put her level in the all-time list with Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova. In October she also won her third straight WTA Finals.”

Also nominated in the SportsWoman category are:

Valerie Adams ~ (New Zealand) Athletics

Marit Bjorgen ~ (Norway) Nordic Skiing

Genzebe Dibaba ~ (Ethiopia) Athletics

Li Na ~ (China) Tennis

Tina Maze ~ (Slovenia) Skiing

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Mikaela Shiffrin (Photo credit: Cody Downard Photography)

Alpine skiier Mikaela Shiffrin took the skiing world by storm.  At the age of 18 years and 345 days, Shiffrin became the youngest ever Olympic Slalom champion, in Sochi. During the year she also won at Levi, Bormio, Flachau, Are and Lenzerheide to win her second straight Slalom World Cup. Totally dominant in the discipline, her victory at Schladming in 2013 means she is the current Olympic, world and World Cup slalom champion.  Shiffrin is the only female athlete nominated in this category.

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“For the second year running, the amazing Tatyana McFadden completed the classic marathon Grand Slam, winning in Boston, Chicago, London and New York. On the track she also broke the T54 world records in 1,500 and 5,000 metres. Earlier in the year, she showed her versatility by switching to the Winter Paralympics in Sochi and winning the silver medal in the 1km cross-country sprint.

Tatyana McFadden

Also nominated in the Sportsperson of the Year 2015 with a Disability category are:

Shelley Gautier ~ (Canada) Cycling

The winners will be revealed at the Awards Ceremony in Shanghai on April 15.