Rafael Nadal awarded the Prince of Asturias prize

With 75% (18 out of 24) of the jurors' votes, Rafael Nadal was unveiled as the winner of this year's Prince of Asturias sports prize in Oviedo earlier this morning. It is another milestone in what is turning out to be quite a year for the new world number one, who, apart from successfully defending his French Open title for the third time in a row, is also the new Wimbledon and Olympic champion.

In a statement, the jury praised the 22-year-old for his "commitment to the most noble sports values both in and outside of the court" and his development and charity work in favour of the underprivileged.

Rafael Nadal, the Spanish football team, Michael Phelps, Usain Bolt and Yelena Isinbayeva are the five finalists for this year's Prince of Asturias prize, that will be announced tomorrow in Oviedo.

Among the candidates that failed to make the final shortlist are: Roger Federer, Olympic cycling veteran, Joan Llaneras, Gemma Mengual and the rest of the Spanish synochronised swim team, Pele, Alfredo di Stefano, Sir Alex Ferguson, Ethiopian athlete, Haile Gebrelassie, Pau Gasol and Ciudad Real handball team.

Previous winners:
1987 Sebastian Coe
1988 Juan Antonio Samaranch
1989 Severiano Ballesteros
1990 Sito Pons
1991 Sergei Bubka
1992 Miguel Indurain
1993 Javier Sotomayor
1994 Martina Navratilova
1995 Hassiba Boulmerka
1996 Carl Lewis
1997 The Spanish marathon team
1998 Arantxa Sánchez Vicario
1999 Steffi Graf
2000 Lance Armstrong
2001 Manuel Estiarte
2002 The Brazilian football team
2003 The Tour de France
2004 Hicham El Guerrouj
2005 Fernando Alonso
2006 The Spanish basketball team
2007 Michael Schumacher

In the meanwhile, Nadal has made it through to the semifinals at the U.S. Open and will meet bicep-popping Andy Murray this Saturday.


(Via thinkspain.com; image via Yahoo! Sports)

I Kissed A Girl...

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Flavia Pennetta congratulates Dinara Safina (in pink) after Safina's two set victory during their quarterfinal match at the U.S. Open.


I can't help but to make this post when I see this picture. Hehe! The censored version of this song by Katy Perry is currently very popular on the radio.

(Image by AP Photo/Ed Betz)

Who else at the US Open?

This is the second part of the post here.

For the past few days, these are the celebrities spotted at the U.S. Open.

Luke Wilson

Martha Stewart

Alec Baldwin

Chace Crawford and Nicole Fiscella

Jeremy Piven

Adrian Grenier

Kim Cattrall and her boyfriend, Canadian chef Alan Wyse

Melania and Donald Trump

Cameron Diaz and Paul Sculfor

Candice Bergen and her huband Marshall Rose

Star Jones

Djimon Hounsou and Kimora Lee Simmons

Tiger Woods and wife Elin Nordegren

(Images via U.S. Open official website)

Quote of the Day: Andy Roddick on Novak Djokovic 'multiple injuries'

“I’ve got to feel good. He’s got about 16 injuries right now.”
~ Andy Roddick on Novak Djokovic whom he will meet in the quarterfinal at the U.S. Open.

Djokovic needed five sets to win his fourth-round match against No. 15 Tommy Robredo and is said to have to deal with stomach, hip, ankle and breathing problems.

Roddick jokingly tossed out a few possible additions to Djokovic’s long list of ailments—“bird flu, Anthrax, SARS”—he was asked whether he believed the Serbian was exaggerating his problems.

“Either he’s quick to call the trainer or one of the most courageous guys of all time,” Roddick said.

Let's see what kind of drama Djokovic will put in the quarterfinal match. Perhaps retire from the match?

(Images via Yahoo! Sports)