Rafael Nadal named top Sportsman

Courtesy: Yahoo

Rafael Nadal has been named sportsman of the year by world sports writers, after a ballot of 515 worldwide sports journalists.

 

Nadal became only the fourth man in the Open era to claim a Career Grand Slam - after triumphs in the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open in 2010 - and picked up 16 per cent of the vote.

Lionel Messi and Andres Iniesta finished second and third, respectively.

Croatian high jumper Blanka Vlasic picked up the women's award, ahead of skier Lindsey Vonn and tennis mum Kim Clijsters.

Vlasic, who was named IAAF World Athlete of the Year in 2010 and won the European Athlete of the Year trophy, won gold at both the World Indoor Championships and European Championships in the past 12 months.
She was also honoured by European sports writers earlier this year.

Spain were comfortable winners of the team of the year prize for their Fifa World Cup triumph in South Africa, claiming over 42 per-cent of the vote.

Canada's Winter Olympic winning hockey team claimed second while Brazil's volleyball team was third.