December 3, 2007

Tour Stars Up For Athlete Of The Year Award

DAPHNE, Alabama – Tennis stars Justine Henin and Venus Williams have been rewarded for magnificent years on the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour with nominations for the United States Sports Academy Athlete of the Year presented by USATODAY.com and MSNBC.com. Henin was the outstanding player of 2007, winning Roland Garros, the US Open and the Sony Ericsson Championships, while Williams announced her return to the top of the game with a memorable title run at Wimbledon.

The Academy Athlete of the Year ballot is the culmination of the Academy's yearlong Athlete of the Month program, which recognizes the accomplishments of men and women in sports around the globe. The Academy's Athlete of the Month is selected by an international voting committee comprised of former athletes, media, sports organizations and governing bodies.

Henin was the standout player on Tour this year, playing some truly magical tennis and firmly establishing herself as the world No.1 in the process. In addition to her triumphs in Paris, New York and Madrid, the peerless Belgian captured six other trophies and ended the season riding high on a 25-match win streak.

Williams struggled with injuries and inconsistency for the first half of the year, but her season finally burst into life at the All England Club when she stormed through the draw to capture her sixth Grand Slam title. The 27-year-old American carried this form through to the end of the season, finishing off with a 50-10 win-loss record and a place among the elite Top 10 once more.

Joining Henin and Williams in the female ballot will be American swimmer Natalie Coughlin, Ethiopian runner Meseret Defar, American sprinter Allyson Felix, Austrian skier Renate Goetschl, Russian pole vaulter Yelena Isinbayeva, Australian basketball player Lauren Jackson, Swedish heptathlon champion Carolina Klüft, Mexican golfer Lorena Ochoa, Norwegian golfer Suzann Pettersen and American swimmer Kate Ziegler.

The 2007 male ballot includes Boston Red Sox pitcher Josh Beckett, New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, Green Bay Packers quarterback Brett Favre, Swiss tennis great Roger Federer, American sprinter Tyson Gay, Ethiopian runner Haile Gebrselassie, Cleveland Cavaliers All-Star LeBron James, NASCAR Champion Jimmy Johnson, Indianapolis Colts quarterback Peyton Manning, San Antonio Spurs point guard Tony Parker, American swimming star Michael Phelps and golf superstar Tiger Woods.

Votes will be collected through December 24 and the ballot will be located on a website hosted by the Academy and will be available through direct links from USATODAY.com Sports content and the sports pages of MSNBC.com.

try these links get voting !!!!!!

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i voted guess who for!!!

hmm... marion jones?? sorry