Northern Ireland's Rory McIlroy and Darren Clarke have both added a Laureus Award to the major titles they won last year.
On a festive Monday night in London when tennis ace Novak Djokovic beat a stellar group in winning the 'World Sportsman of the Year' Award and Kenya's 5,000 and 10,000 metre world champion Vivian Cheruiyot edged out golf's dynamic Yani Tseng to claim the 'World Sportswoman of the Year' Award, McIlroy was voted the 'Breakthrough of the Year' Award winner and Clarke won the 'Comeback of the Year' title.
McIlroy, 22, claimed his award thanks to claiming his first major title with a dazzling eight-shot victory in the US Open at Congressional. It made him the second youngest winner of a major.
His 43-year-old Ulster compatriot, Clarke, got the nod in his category for hoisting himself out of a slump to win The Open Championship at Royal St George's - also his first major title.
Double amputee Oscar Pistorius won the disability award. The South African 400-meter specialist known as 'The Blade Runner' won a silver medal in the relay at the able-bodied World Athletic Championships last year in South Korea, and had also been nominated for the 'Breakthrough' category won by McIlroy.
English football great Bobby Charlton was given the lifetime achievement award 54 years to the day after surviving the Munich air disaster that killed eight team-mates of his Manchester United team.
The 74-year-old Charlton was unable to personally receive the award. Laureus officials said he fell ill on Sunday and returned to Manchester on Monday for unspecified minor surgery.
United manager Alex Ferguson accepted the award on Charlton's behalf. He said Charlton was fine but "very annoyed" at not being able to attend the ceremony.
The winners were chosen by the 47 world renowned sports stars who make up the Laureus sports academy.
ALL THE WINNERS AND NOMINEES:
(Winners names in bold type):
World Sportsman of the Year:
Usain Bolt, Novak Djokovic, Lionel Messi, Dirk Nowitzki, Sebastian Vettel, Cadel Evans
World Sportswoman of the Year:
Vivian Cheruiyot, Maria Höfl-Riesch, Carmelita Jeter, Petra Kvitova, Homare Sawa, Yani Tseng
World Sports Team of the Year
All Blacks, FC Barcelona, Dallas Mavericks, England Cricket Team, Japan Women's Football Team, Red Bull F1 team
World Breakthrough of the Year:
Yohan Blake, Petra Kvitova, Rory McIlroy, Li Na, Oscar Pistorius, Mo Farah
World Comeback of the Year:
Eric Abidal, Darren Clarke, Crusaders, Sergio Garcia, Liu Xiang, Queensland Reds
World Sportsperson of the Year with a Disability:
Daniel Dias, Terezinha Guilhermina, Oscar Pistorius, Esther Vergeer, David Weir, Irek Zaripov
World Action Sportsperson of the Year:
Jamie Bestwick, Philip Köster, Carissa Moore, Travis Rice, Kelly Slater, Shaun White