Monday December 20th, 2004

Seven-times Formula One world champion Michael Schumacher and Olympic canoeing great Birgit Fischer have been named Germany's sportsman and woman of the year.

Schumacher took 13 wins for Ferrari, a record for a single season, in sealing his seventh world title in 2004.

Surprisingly, it is only the second time he was won the Sportsman of the Year award in Germany. Last year, the honour went to cyclist Jan Ullrich.

Fischer came out of retirement to win gold and silver medals at the Athens Olympics at the age of 42.

Victory for the mother of two in the K4 500 event gave her an eighth Olympic gold medal.

She just missed out on a record-equalling ninth summer Olympic gold when she was beaten into second place in the K2 500 kayaking final.

"Sport knows no age," Fischer said after collecting her award at a ceremony late on Sunday. "I'm not going to announce the end of my career."

Published at 11:54:41 GMT

Picked from the Bunch:	<<  Previous  |  Dec Index  |  The Grapevine |  Next  >>
(03-11-2005): Australian GP Paddock Gossip (03-09-2005): Greece Finds Site for Formula One Track (03-09-2005): Red Bull Set to Get Honda Engines in 2006 (03-08-2005): Schumacher in Line for Sporting Oscars (03-07-2005): Daily Grapevine Sunday Analysis - Australia

© 2005 Reuters Limited. Click for Restrictions | © 1995-2005 Kaizar.Com, Inc. Copyright & Terms