2017 Laureus World Sports Awards to be held in Monaco

This year's Laureus World Sports Awards, one of the most prominent international sports awards, will be held in Monaco on Feb. 14 local time. The awards are held annually to celebrate the achievements of athletes from around the world.

After 17 years, the awards returned to its birthplace Monaco, the location for the the very first Laureus Awards, held in 2000. That event saw President Nelson Mandela make an impassioned speech about the power of sport.

The Awards Ceremony consists of seven categories, with Portuguese superstar Cristiano Ronaldo getting the most nominations, with three. The 2016 Ballon d'Or winner is looking forward to becoming the first winner of the Sportsman of the Year to hail from the football field and from a team sport. Also slated to vie for an award are his teams Portugal and Real Madrid, who will compete for the Laureus World Team of the Year award.

This year's contest for the Laureus World Sportsman of the Year is the most competitive one ever. Besides Cristiano Ronaldo, the other nominees are three-time Rio gold medal winner Usain Bolt, NBA Golden State Warriors 2015-2016 season MVP Stephen Curry, the history-making 5,000 and 10,000 meter Olympic champion Mo Farah, NBA Cleveland Cavaliers 2015-2016 FMVP LeBron James, and Grand Slam winning Rio Olympic tennis champion Andy Murray. For any of them to bag a trophy would not be surprising in the least.

If Usain Bolt wins the award, he will become the second four-time Laureus winner after Roger Federer. It would be the first award for the other five nominees.

All of the six Laureus Sportswoman of the Year nominees participated in the Rio Olympics. Three of them come from the United States. They include gymnast Simone Biles, sprinter Allyson Felix and swimmer Katie Ledecky. The other three nomination places are occupied by German world tennis No. 1 Angelique Kerber, Jamaican sprinter Elaine Thompson and British cyclist Laura Kenny.

Following is the detailed list of nominees for the seven awards:

Laureus World Sportsman of the Year:

Usain Bolt (Jamaica) , Stephen Curry (United States) , Mo Farah (Britain) , LeBron James (United States) , Andy Murray (Britain) , Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal)

Laureus World Sportswoman of the Year:

Simone Biles (United States) , Elaine Thompson (Jamaica) , Katie Ledecky (United States) , Allyson Felix (United States) , Laura Kenny (Britain) , Angelique Kerber (Germany)

Laureus World Team of the Year:

Chicago Cubs (United States) , Cleveland Cavaliers (United States) , Mercedes AMG Petronas (Germany) , Portugal men's football team, Brazil men's Olympic football team, Real Madrid (Spain)

Laureus World Comeback of the Year:

Michael Phelps (United States) , Ruth Beitia (Spain) , Juan Martin del Porto (Argentina) , Nick Skelton (Britain) , Fabienne St Louis (Mauritius) , Askel Lund Svindal (Norway)

Laureus World Breakthrough of the Year:

Alamaz Ayana (Ethiopia) , Fiji men's rugby sevens team, Iceland men's football team, Leicester City (Britain) , Wayde Van Niekerk (South Africa) , Rico Rosberg (Germany)

Laureus World Action Sportsperson of the Year:

Rachel Atherton (Britain) , Pedro Barros (Brazil) , John John Florence (United States) , Tyler Wright (Australia) , Chloe Kim (United States) , Kelly Sildaru (Estonia)

Laureus World Sportsperson of the Year for athlete with a Disability:

Ihar Boki (Belarus) , Sophie Pascoe (New Zealand) , Omara Durand (Cuba) , Siamand Rahman (Iran) , Marcel Hug (Switzerland) , Beatrice Vio (Italy)

Laureus World Best Sporting moments of the Year:

1.Remarkable - August 31st : Barcelona U12s comfort Japanese opponents

2.Fair Play - January 5th: Jack Sock tells Lleyton Hewitt to challenge

3.Heartwarming - July 10TH: Young Portugal fan comforts sobbing Frenchman

4.Sportsmanship- August 16TH: Nikki Hamblin and Abbey D'Agostino show Olympic spirit

5.Drama - September 19TH: Alistair Brownlee helps brother Jonny over finish line

6.Magical - July 5TH: Iceland players perform Viking war chant. Endit