Meares & Evans in running for prestigious Laureus award

Australian track champion Anna Meares and 2011 Tour de France winner Cadel Evans have both been named as a contenders for the prestigious international Laureus Sportsperson of the The Year Awards.

Meares, who this year won three gold medals at the World Track Cycling Championships in Holland, joins an impressive line-up of stars, named by organisers as those who could make the shortlist for the prize which is announced in February.

The 28-year-old Queenslander is alongside the likes Wimbledon winner Petra Kvitova and British swimming champ Rebecca Adlington, in the running for the women's award which recognises sporting achievement throughout 2011.

"In 2008, Meares suffered a bad accident at the World Cup when she broke her neck, but she fought back and qualified for the 2008 Beijing Olympics, where she won a silver medal in the Individual Sprint," a statement from Laureus said in recognition of the Australian's hard work.

Last month Meares won Australian cycling people's choice award ahead of Cadel Evans, following her gong as the Australian Institute of Sport athlete of the year.

Australian cyclist of the year Evans was also named on the long list of contenders in the highly competitive men's category for his Tour de France victory, alongside athletes like fellow Australian and World MotoGP Champion Casey Stoner, Tennis world number one Novak Djokovic of Serbia, and FIFA world footballer of the year, Argentina's Lionel Messi.

Six nominees for the award will be named on December 15 before the winner, as voted by a panel of 47, is announced during a ceremony in London on February 6.