Usain Bolt was last night crowned Sportsman of the Year for the second time at a glittering Laureus Awards ceremony at the capital's Emirates Palace hotel. The fastest man on the planet is rapidly becoming one of his sport's most decorated personalities after matching the three gold medals he won at the 2008 Beijing Olympics with three more at last year's World Athletics Championships in Berlin . Bolt, who broke his own world records in winning the 100m and 200m titles as well as anchoring the Jamaican team to another relay gold, topped the secret ballot conducted among the 46 Laureus Academy members, denying record-breaking tennis champion Roger Federer of a fifth statuette from this sporting version of The Oscars. Serena Williams, who, like Federer, won two grand slams during the voting period, earned her second Sportswoman of the Year award seven years after her first and three years after she had won the World Comeback award. That comeback honour this year went to Kim Clijsters, who defeated Williams in the semi-finals of the US Open in September on the way to a remarkable Flushing Meadows triumph. It was a glorious evening for Britain's Formula One champion Jenson Button. He topped a short list of six for the Breakthrough of the Year prize for the prelude to a prestigious double ahead of the announcement that he and his BrawnGP colleagues had taken the Team of the Year prize. FC Barcelona had been widely expected to take that honour having won six football trophies in 2009, the last of them in the Club World Cup final here in Abu Dhabi in December. Natalie du Toit, the South African swimmer, was honoured with the Disability award while the Action Sports accolades were taken by Australia's Stephanie Gilmore, the three-time world surfing champion.
Male Sportsman of the Year: Usain Bolt Female Sportsman of the Year: Serena Williams Team of the Year: Brawn GP Comeback of the Year: Kim Clijsters Breakthrough of the Year: Jenson Button Disabled Athlete of the Year: Natalie Du Toit Action Athlete of the Year: Stephanie Gilmore Details to follow