China's Olympians win Laureus team award

BEIJING (Reuters) - China's remarkable achievement in topping the medals table at last year's Beijing Olympics was recognized on Friday when they scooped the team title at the 2009 Laureus Sports Awards.

The Chinese Olympic team got the nod from the 46 sporting greats who make up the Laureus academy ahead of soccer teams Manchester United and Spain, the British Olympic cycling team, the Jamaican Olympic sprint team and the NBA's Boston Celtics.

China won 51 golds, 21 silver and 28 bronze medals in Beijing to top the medals table for the first time since the country returned to the Summer Games in 1984.

"Beijing was one of the great Olympic Games," academy chairman Ed Moses told a ceremony in the Chinese capital.

"To me one of the most amazing thing was the passion and determination of the Chinese athletes who produced so many epic performances, not just in the sports in which we knew they were good, but in others where China was not expected to do so well."

Deng Yaping, an academy member and part of the organizing committee for the Beijing Games, said the award was a tribute to the huge success of China's first Olympics.

"This is international recognition of a great achievement," the three-times Olympic table tennis champion told Reuters.

"It is not only an honor for the athletes, team officials and coaches but for the whole nation."

The other awards handed out so far this year have also been dominated by the stars of the Beijing Games with sprinter Usain Bolt winning best sportsman, pole-vaulter Yelena Isinbayeva best sportswoman and swimmer Rebecca Adington best newcomer.

Six gold medalists were at the ceremony to represent the 639 athletes in the Chinese team.

"The other teams were excellent, they did a fantastic job last year but last year was the Olympic year in China, so last year was our year," said Zou Kai, who won three gold medals in gymnastics.

"I feel excited to beat Manchester United (because) I'm a Liverpool fan."

"SMALLER SPORTS"

Past winners of the award have included Manchester United, the Brazil, France, Greece and Italy national soccer teams, the Australia cricket team as well as the England and South African rugby teams.

"This will really encourage athletes from small nations and smaller sports that they can be Laureus award winners," said Deng, who admitted being surprised.

The usual gala ceremony for the awards, dubbed the "Oscars" of the sporting world, was canceled this year and replaced by individual ceremonies for the winners because of the global economic downturn.

"We just felt that timing wasn't right," twice Olympic champion hurdler Moses told Reuters.

"We were able to save millions of dollars... and decided to make a major infusion of 3 million euros ($4.21 million) into the (Laureus) foundation."

The Sport for Good foundation used sport as a tool for social change around the world in areas such as HIV awareness, teenage pregnancy and landmines, Moses said.

(Additional reporting by Liu Zhen; Editing by John O'Brien)