The awards ceremony of the first Laureus China Top 10 Athletes was held in Shanghai on Thursday evening.

The top 10 are female diver Guo Jingjing, female table tennis players Wang Nan and Zhang Yining, female swimmer Luo Xuejuan, female short-track speed skating athlete Yang Yang (A), men's 110m hurdles athlete Liu Xiang, figure skating pair Shen Xue/Zhao Hongbo, male gymnast Li Xiaopeng, men's basketball player Yao Ming, and female volleyball player Zhao Ruirui.

 

All the top 10 athletes have made great contribution to China sports in 2003.

 

This year, the organizers did not rank the top 10 athletes according to their votes, which was different from the previous activities.

 

The 2004 Laureus China Top 10 Athletes awards originated from the selection of China Top 10 Athletes, which had seen 24 editions.

 

List of 1st Laureus China Top 10 Athletes

 

Following is the list of the first Laureus China Top 10 Athletes unveiled on Thursday:?????

 

1. Guo Jingjing, diving, defended her 3m springboard title at the 2003 World Championships in Barcelona, Spain. She also claimed the 3m springboard title at the Busan Asian Games in 2002.

 

 

2. Wang Nan, table tennis, swept the women's singles, doubles and mixed doubles titles at 2003 World Championships in Paris.

 

 

3. Yang Yang (A), short-track speed skating, clinched women's 500m and 3,000m relay gold medals at the 2003 World Championships. She ended China's gold medal drought at the Salt Lake City Winter Olympic Games in 2002 with 500m and 1,000m titles.

 

 

4. Luo Xuejuan, swimming, became the triple winner at the World Swimming Championships in Barcelona, Spain, in July as the 19-year-old from Zhejiang Province won in the women's 50m breaststroke, 100m breaststroke and 4x100m medley relay.

 

 

5. Zhang Yining, table tennis, won women's doubles gold medal at the 2003 World Championships in Paris in May. She also won in the women's singles in the ITTF Pro Tour Finals in 2002.

 

 

6. Liu Xiang, athletics, the 20-year-old Asian record holder took a medal at the 2003 World Championships in Athletics as he raced to the third finish in the men's 110m hurdles in 13.23 seconds in Paris. He had also broken the world youth record at an IAAF Grand Prix in July 2002.

 

 

7. Shen Xue/Zhao Hongbo, pairs' figure skating, defended the world title in pairs' figure skating in March in Washington and they triumphed again in pairs in the ISU Grand Prix finals nine months later with a new routine "the Nutcracker."

 

 

8. Zhao Ruirui, volleyball, was named the Top Spiker at the 2003 Women's Volleyball World Cup in November as China embraced their first volleyball World Cup title in 17 years.

 

 

9. Li Xiaopeng, gymnastics, won the men's team, vault and parallel bars for China at the World Gymnastics Championships in Anaheim, the United States, in August, piling up a total of 13 world and Olympic titles to his name. His aim is to overtake Li Ning who holds 14 world and Olympic titles as a Chinese record.

 

 

10. Yao Ming, basketball, a 23-year-old from Shanghai, clinched a spot in the first choice team in the Houston Rockets in his second year in NBA. The 2.26-meter center carried on the sensation from 2002 when he was written into the history book as the first non-American top pick in NBA's history. He became the first Asian to be voted the Laureus World Newcomer of the Year for his amazing debut in the top basketball league in May. He was also the Most Valuable Player at the Asian Basketball Championship in October and one of the China's Top 10 Youngsters.

 

 

(Xinhua News Agency March 20, 2004)