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Fifteen athletes win World Sports Awards
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Editor's note:
Marion Jones and Michael Johnson led 15 athletes to win the World Sports Awards at the Royal AlbertHall in London on January 16.
The nominees for the awards were chosen by a panel of 71 sports journalists from 30 countries, who nominated five names in each category. The winners were selected by a jury chaired by IOC president Juan Antonio Samaranch and including Ali, Bobby Charlton, Wayne Gretzky, Steffi Graf and Mark Spitz.
It was the second edition of the World Sports Awards, which was founded by former Austrian ski jumper Hubert Neuper. The first ceremony was held last year in Vienna.
In today's issue, we introduce to you three of them: Michael Schumacher, Lennox Lewis and Michael Johnson.
Michael Schumacher
法拉利车队的迈克尔·舒马赫年幼的时候就走上了赛车的道路：十四岁参加德国小型赛车，并成为全国冠军; 十六岁成为小型赛车的欧洲冠军。1991年与贝纳通车队签约，正式成为F1车手。从1992年开始，舒马赫就成了F1车坛的重要人物。
和其他车手不同，迈克尔·舒马赫在赛车场上是一个用脑开车的车手。他的技术也被公认为世界第一。他的经验对任何车队来说都是一笔不可多得的财富。
ON the evening of January 16, at the Royal Albert Hall in London, Scuderia Ferrari-Marlboro's racing star Michael Schumacher was awarded with the World Sports Award in the category Motorsport for his remarkable achievement of winning the Driver's World Championship with Ferrari in 2000.
Michael Schumacher was born on January 3, 1969 in western Germany (in Hurth, near Cologne).
As early as four years of age he was notching up (赢得) his first circuits at the go-kart (小型竞赛汽车) track nearby his parents. In the go-kart he was runner-up in the Junior World Championships at the age of 16, and two years later he became the European Champion — and go-kart racing remains his great passion to this day.
After 15 years of go-kart racing he switched to racing cars and came out in front in numerous German championships. In 1990, Schumacher became the Mercedes-Benz team driver in the Sports Car World Championship and the German Formula 3 (三级方程式) Champion.
In 1991, at the Belgian Grand Prix, Schumacher made his debut as a replacement driver for the Formula 1 （一级方程式） Jordan team. By the following year he had already won his first Grand Prix at Belgium's Spa-Francorchamps, in a Benetton-Ford.
After placing third in the World Championship of 1992 and fourth of 1993, he landed the World Title in 1994.
In 1995, Michael Schumacher defended his World Championship title in a Benetton-Renault. With a record nine wins out of 17 Grand Prix races, this was a triumphant season for the German driver.
After four and a half years with Benetton, Schumacher signed a contract with Ferrari (法拉利车队), with the objective of bringing the World Championship once again back to Maranello. Under his influence, the Italian team restructured itself. The key positions were occupied by new expert personnel. In 1997 and 1998, he narrowly missed out on the World Title — in each case, in the final race of the season. As early as 1998, he renewed his contract with Ferrari until the year 2002.
The 1999 season was an emotional roller-coaster ride for Schumacher. At Silverstone he suffered the first serious accident of his career. After sustaining a double fracture of the right leg the German driver was forced to withdraw from the Championship for six Grand Prix races. Then in Malaysia he celebrated a glorious come-back and by the end of the season had exerted an appreciable influence on the destiny of the Constructors' World Championship.
For many people, Michael Schumacher has been the best driver in Formula 1 since 1994. With 41 Grand Prix victories, he has already equalled Ayrton Senna's (塞纳) second position in the all-time rankings.
He is ambitious, self-disciplined, and totally committed to success, and is respected by friends and rivals alike. In 1995 Schumacher married his girlfriend Corinna. They live together in Switzerland, on the banks of Lake Geneva. In his spare time Michael Schumacher plays as a striker for the local football club, FC Aubonne.(SD-Agencies)
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