May 20, 2003 (Monaco) – Brazilian soccer star Ronaldo became the first man to collect two Laureus Statuettes in the same year as the 2003 Laureus World Sports Awards were announced in Monte Carlo tonight. First he received the Laureus World Comeback of the Year award following the goals he scored in the 2002 World Cup for which he won the Golden Boot as leading goalscorer. Then, on behalf of World Cup winners Brazil, he picked up a second Statuette for the Laureus World Team of the Year award.

Ronaldo, who had flown in from Madrid during the afternoon, received an enthusiastic reception from an audience of sports stars, past and present, and sporting enthusiasts from the world of entertainment. The Awards Ceremony has a worldwide TV audience of 320million.

It was also a night of triple American celebration in Monte Carlo's Grimaldi Forum as their sportsmen and sportswomen scooped three Laureus Awards.

Lance Armstrong, the American cycle star who won the Tour de France for the fourth successive time in 2002 after beating cancer, was named Laureus World Sportsman of the Year. It was the second Laureus Statuette Armstrong had won. In 2000, he won the Laureus World Comeback of the Year award. Armstrong will return to the United States after the Tour de France to ride in the Pro Cycling Tour's San Francisco Grand Prix in September.

Serena Williams, who currently holds all four grand slam tennis titles, was honoured as Laureus World Sportswoman of the Year. There was additional delight for Serena, as it was her sister Venus Williams who presented her with the Laureus Statuette.

Speed climber Dean Potter won the Laureus World Alternative Sportsperson of the Year award.

There was also an American flavour to a fourth award as Chinese basketball star Yao Ming was voted Laureus World Newcomer of the Year for his outstanding performance in his first season with Houston Rockets.

Australia's Michael Milton, who lost a leg as a child because of bone cancer, was named Laureus World Alternative Sportsperson of the Year with a Disability.

There were two special awards. Hollywood film legend Arnold Schwarzenegger flew to Monaco to receive the Laureus Sport for Good Award for his work for the Special Olympics. And Laureus World Sports Academy member Gary Player was given the Laureus Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of his magnificent golfing career and the work he has done for underprivileged children in South Africa through the Player Foundation.

During the Awards Ceremony, which was hosted by a great sporting legend, now a member of the Laureus World Sports Academy, tennis star John McEnroe, and top European actress Desiree Nosbusch, there was a special presentation on the 2002 World Cup in Korea and Japan last summer presented by Rock superstar and soccer enthusiast Rod Stewart.

Ronaldo's award came after the disappointment of the 1998 World Cup final defeat against France in Paris and a series of long-term career-threatening injuries. He scored the two goals for Brazil which won the World Cup final in Yokohama last summer against Germany.

In the Laureus World Comeback of the Year category, Ronaldo, 26, beat Alpine skier Janica Kostelic, US Open tennis champion Pete Sampras, German swimmer Franziska van Almsick and multiple champion skier Hermann Maier of Austria.

Brazil won the Laureus World Team of the Year award ahead of European Champions League winners Real Madrid, for whom Ronaldo also plays, Olympic ice hockey champions Canada, dominant Formula One constructors Ferrari and the European Ryder Cup team.

To win the Laureus World Sportsman of the Year award, Lance Armstrong, 31, had to beat a formidable collection of the world's great sports stars – multi-Olympic biathlon gold medallist Ole Einar Bjoerndalen, Ronaldo, who was also nominated in this category, Formula One world champion Michael Schumacher and golf No.1 Tiger Woods.

Serena Williams won her award in one of the toughest categories in this year's Laureus World Sports Awards, having to beat track and field world-beaters Marion Jones and Paula Radcliffe, top women's golfer Annika Sorenstam and Olympic skiing sensation Janica Kostelic.

Chinese basketball sensation Yao Ming won the Laureus World Newcomer of the Year award ahead of tennis players Daniela Hantuchova and David Nalbandian, England soccer player Wayne Rooney and double Olympic champion speedskater Jochem Uytdehaage of the Netherlands.

Speed climber Dean Potter, 30, from Leavenworth, Kansas, crowned a spectacular year by becoming the first person to climb both Half Dome and El Capitan in Yosemite in less than 24 hours. Earlier in the year he climbed The Nose, which took 45 days in 1958, in a record-shattering 3hrs 24mins.

The other nominations in the category were French mountain biker Anne-Caroline Chausson, Pierre-Luc Gagnon (skateboarding) Slovenia's Martin Strel (ultramarathon swimming) and Potter's fellow American Kelly Clark (snowboarding).

There was an emotional reception for Michael Milton, who lost a leg after bone cancer as a child. He won four gold medals at last year's Winter Paralympics in Salt Lake City and received the Laureus World Sportsperson of the Year with a Disability award.

The other nominations for the Laureus Sportsperson of the Year with a Disability award were Finland's Tanja Kari (nordic skiing), Canada's Chantal Petitclerc (athletics), Paul Schulte from the United States (wheelchair basketball) and Germany's Michael Teuber (cycling).

The Awards Ceremony was completed with the presentation of the Laureus Lifetime Achievement Award to golfing great Gary Player in recognition of his magnificent sporting career and the work he has done for underprivileged children in South Africa through the Player Foundation.

The Laureus World Sports Awards, which were being staged for the fourth time at the Grimaldi Forum in Monte Carlo, has established a unique place in the sporting calendar, honouring the greatest sportsmen and sportswomen from around the world and across all sports.

The winners are selected by the ultimate sports jury – the 41 members of the Laureus World Sports Academy. Among these legends of sport who were in Monaco to watch Armstrong receive his award were: Giacomo Agostini, Franz Beckenbauer, Boris Becker, Ian Botham, Sergey Bubka, Bobby Charlton, Sebastian Coe, Nadia Comaneci, Yaping Deng, Kapil Dev, Morné du Plessis, Emerson Fittipaldi, Dawn Fraser, Tanni Grey-Thompson, Miguel Indurain, Michael Johnson, Kip Keino, Franz Klammer, Dan Marino, John McEnroe, Edwin Moses, Nawal El Moutawakel, Robbie Naish, Ilie Nastase, Martina Navratilova, Gary Player, Hugo Porta, Mark Spitz, Daley Thompson, Alberto Tomba and Katarina Witt.

The Awards were presented in nine categories. The winners were: Laureus World Sportsman of the Year: Lance Armstrong Laureus World Sportswoman of the Year: Serena Williams Laureus World Team of the Year: Brazil Laureus World Comeback of the Year: Ronaldo Laureus World Newcomer of the Year: Yao Ming Laureus World Sportsperson of the Year with a Disability: Michael Milton Laureus World Alternative Sportsperson of the Year: Dean Potter Laureus Lifetime Achievement Award: Gary Player Laureus Sport for Good Award: Arnold Schwarzenegger