Swimming stars lead nominations for top awards

The Chinese swimming team has high hopes of collecting a swag of trophies after earning seven nominations at the 2012 Anta CCTV Sports Personality of the Year awards ceremony.

The annual event, regarded as the premier gala on the Chinese sporting calendar, unveiled its final five nominees for each of its 10 categories in Beijing on Thursday.

Spearheaded by Sun Yang (pictured) and Ye Shiwen, Chinese swimmers won five gold medals, one silver and two bronze at the London Olympics, breaking two world records and three Olympic records in the process.

Ye leads the contenders for Female Athlete of the Year.

The 16-year-old, who broke the world record in the 400m individual medley and the Olympic record in the 200m medley event, added another world title to her list by winning the 200m medley at the World Short Course Swimming Championships in Istanbul, Turkey, on Dec 15. She became the first Chinese swimmer to win at the Olympics, World Aquatics Championships, Short Course Swimming Championships and the Asian Games.

"I am very happy to be nominated as Female Athlete of the Year. I believe I will perform better in the future and hope the fans will continue to support me," said Ye, who won Newcomer of the Year at the 2010 event.

Ye said at Thursday's nominations ceremony that she was not at her best at the short-course championships.

"Maybe because I have been busy with various activities and not in systematic training, I was a little nervous," Ye said. "I have some regrets as I narrowly lost the 400m IM event and failed to break the world record in 200m IM. Still, as I haven't done much training recently, I am satisfied with the results."

Ye will focus on improving her starting and turning during training in Australia soon, and then will train at high altitude after the Chinese New Year.

Jiao Liuyang, winner of the 200m butterfly in London, is also in the race for the title along with four-time Olympic diving champion Wu Minxia, 10m air rifle champion Yi Siling and Xu Lijia, who has also been nominated for the Special Award of Merit after winning the Laser Radial class, China's first Olympic sailing gold medal, in London.

Sun, who won the Male Athlete of the Year award last year, is widely expected to defend his crown. The 21-year-old won the 400m and 1,500m freestyle events in London, becoming the first Chinese man to win Olympic gold.

His fellow nominees include four other Olympic gold medalists - table tennis player Zhang Jike, fencer Lei Sheng, badminton star Lin Dan and boxer Zou Shiming.

tangzhe@chinadaily.com.cn