If you thought that Valentino Rossi’s return to racing just 41 days after his horrific crash at the Mugello and then duelling with Casey Stoner at Sachsenring GP, with the two swapping places at least eight times, before Stoner finally grabbed third spot on the last corner of the last lap, was some awesome craziness for someone coming back from such a serious injury, then you completely agree with the Laureus Academy who awarded the Italian rider with the 2011 Laureus World Sports Award Comeback of the Year prize.
The Academy, which is made up of 46 of the greatest sportspeople of all time (not exactly fanboys who are confounded by all the media hype that surrounds someone like Rossi) decided to honour him with the award over US golfer Paula Creamer, American sprinter Tyson Gay, Belgian tennis star Justine Henin, and athletes Carolina Kluft and Merlene Ottey.
Unfortunately for MotoGP World Champion Jorge Lorenzo who was on the short list for a nomination as Sportsman of the Year award, didn’t make it to the final top six, while fellow countryman, tennis star Rafael Nadal took the award this year.