The winners of the “2012 Titan Sportsman of the Year” hosted by Titan Sports Media Group have been announced on December 19. There are two categories voted by specialist panels, including the Chinese Sportsman of the Year and the International Sportsman of the Year. Sun Yang,Ye Shiwen and Lin Dan wrap up top 3 in the Chinese field, and the International winners are Usain Bolt,Lionel Messi and the Spanish National Football Team. As the result, it is the best expression to the Olympic motto “Citius, Altius, Fortius” that two gold medalists Sun Yang and Usain Bolt are named as Titan Sportsman of the Year in the year of Olympics.
It has been four years since the awards were established in 2009. The previous winners were Zhang Lin and Messi in 2009, Shen Xue/Zhao Hongbo and Rafael Nadalin 2010, and Li Na and Novak Djokovic in 2011.
The Nomninees of the 2012 Chinese Titan Sportsman of the Year include Sun Yang, Ye Shiwen, Lin Dan, Xu Lijia, Zhang Jike, Beijing Men’s Basketball Team, Zhou Shiming, Chinese National Gymnastic Team, Feng Shanshan, and Lei Sheng.
Correspondingly, the Nominees of the International Titan Sportsman of the Year are Usain Bolt, Lionel Messi, LeBron James, Jeremy Lin, Michael Phelps, Didier Drogba, Andrew Murray, Spanish National Football Team, Sebastian Vettel, and Rory McIlroy.
The selection process has lasted about one month since November 23. For both Chinese and International Titan Sportsman of the Year, each ten nominees are chosen by the special panels, including 100 Chinese sports media people from TV, print, internet. In addition, there are five famous international sports journalists from L’Equipe,Corriere dello Sport,Marca, Sports Illustrated, and The Daily Telegraph.
The rules allow each voter chooses three nominees, and points are awarded as follows: 5 points for a first place in a voters’ list, 3 points for second, 1 point for third. In the Chinese selection, 73 voters chose Sun Yang. 46 of them put him in the first place, with 23 in second and 4 in third. Eventually Sun Yang won by total points of 303.
Coincidentlly, in the international selection Usain Bolt has received exactly the same 303 points, which is enough to put him on the top of the list. There are 79 voters in favor of the Lightning Bolt, with 45 in the first place, 22 in second and 12 in third. Lionel Messi, who has just finished 91 goals in 2012, incredibly breaking the record of most goal scored in a year, ranked second.
Final Ranking of the 2012 Titan Sportsman of the Year
rank/nominee 1p(5points) 2p(3points) 3p(1point) total
Sun Yang 46 23 4 303
Ye Shiwen 20 24 14 186
Lin Dan 19 21 13 171
Beijing Men’s Basketball Team 6 9 33 75
Xu Lijia 3 8 20 59
Chinese Mens’s Gymnastic Team 1 7 15 33
Feng Shanshan 1 5 8 28
Zhang Jike 2 1 4 17
Zhou Shiming 1 2 3 14
Lei Sheng 0 0 9 9
Final Ranking of the 2012 Titan Sportsman of the Year
rank/nominee 1p(5points) 2p(3points) 3p(1point) total
Usain Bolt 45 22 12 303
Lionel Messi 24 18 11 185
Spanish National Football Team 15 16 22 145
LeBron James 7 14 10 87
Jeremy Lin 4 7 16 57
Michael Phelps 2 11 7 50
Didier Drogba 3 5 7 37
Andrew Murray 0 6 6 24
Sebastian Vettel 0 1 5 8
Rory McIlroy 0 0 3 3
Previous Winners
2009
Chinese Titan Sportsman of the Year:1.Zhang Lin 2.Liu Xiang 3.Ding Junhui 4.Lin Dan 5.Liu Zige
International Titan Sportsman of the Year: 1.Lionel Messi 2.Usain Bolt 3.Tiger Woods 4.Roger Federer 5.Jenson Button
2010
Chinese Titan Sportsman of the Year:1.Shen Xue/Zhao Hongbo 2.Wang Zhizhi 3.Lin Dan 4.Wang Meng 5.Liu Xiang
International Titan Sportsman of the Year: 1.Rafael Nadal 2.Andrés Iniesta 3.Jose Mourinho 4.Kobe Bryant 5.Diego Forlan
2011
Chinese Titan Sportsman of the Year:1.Li Na 2.Sun Yang 3.Liu Xiang 4.Lin Dan 5.Yi Jianlian
International Titan Sportsman of the Year: 1.Novak Djokovic 2.Lionel Messi 3.Dirk Nowitzki 4.Sebastian Vettel 5.Ryan Lochte
