 Schumacher Top Sportsman in Reuters Poll Tuesday December 18th, 2001
Forty sports editors and journalists from 31 countries nominated up to three leading sportsmen of 2001. Each first place choice was awarded three points, second place got two and third place received one. Schumacher won with 54 points out of a total of 120. Australian swimmer Ian Thorpe clinched second place with 32 points, narrowly beating Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong who gained 29. "(Schumacher) confirmed what everybody knew already, that he is simply the best," said Roger Crutchley at the Bangkok Post. The German ended the 2001 Formula One season on a high with his 53rd career win and is now only one title away from matching the record of five Championships won by the late Argentine Juan Manuel Fangio. "(Schumacher) took another step towards becoming the greatest racing driver of all time," said Ori Lewis at Ha'aretz English Edition in Israel. Thorpedo Wins Praise Ian Thorpe, a triple Olympic gold medallist last year and dubbed "the Thorpedo" in Australia, won an unprecedented six golds at this year's world championships in Fukuoka in Japan. He set world records in the 200, 400 and 800 metre freestyle events as well as helping the 4x200m freestyle relay squad to a world record. "(He's) one of the best athletes in the world," said Dragan Simic at JSL "Sport" in Belgrade. Other sports editors said Armstrong, who has won three consecutive Tour de France races after recovering from advanced testicular cancer, produced the best sports performance of 2001. "Armstrong should get (the sportsman 2001 title) purely because of what he has overcome in terms of his illness," said Howard Donaldson at The Mercury in South Africa. "(He is) an example to us all." Joseph Romanos at The Listener in New Zealand said: "Armstrong again dominated cycling's toughest road race, the Tour de France, continuing a remarkable comeback from cancer to establish himself among the all-time legends of the sport." Youngest World Number One Australia's Lleyton Hewitt, in fourth place in the poll with 20 points, won the U.S. Open this year and finished the year as the youngest world number one in history. Just behind Hewitt in the poll with 17 points came Croatian tennis player Goran Ivanisevic, who won his first Grand Slam title as a wild card entrant at Wimbledon. "Ivanisevic's victory at Wimbledon took tennis to levels of drama and excitement barely seen for 20 years," said Donald Walker at The Scotsman. "Ivanisevic restored faith in the unpredictability of sport, and his personality brought the tournament alive. The Croat's success was all the more remarkable in the face of British hysteria over his semifinal opponent Tim Henman." Others singled out the world's number one golfer Tiger Woods and England soccer captain David Beckham, who both earned 16 points in the poll. Woods became the first person to hold all four major titles at the same time when he won the Masters Tournament in Augusta. Beckham crowned a successful year by scoring a superb free-kick in the dying seconds against Greece to book England's place in the 2002 World Cup. "Beckham, after being appointed England captain, transformed into Superman, and saved a nation from oblivion," said Jeremy Walker at Asahi Shimbun in Tokyo.
Published at 09:56:13 GMT
| ||||||
Michael Schumacher, who won his fourth Formula One world title this year with a record-equalling nine victories, has been voted Reuters sportsman of 2001.
(03-11-2005): 
