London, England, May 6, 2021: Malaysian squash champion Nicol David is among four new members of the prestigious Laureus World Sports Academy which decides the annual global sports awards.
The other three new members are United States Alpine skier Lindsey Vonn, British heptathlete Jessica Ennis-Hill and Paralympic swimmer Daniel Dias of Brazil.
The news was announced two days before the winners of the 2021 Laureus World Sports Awards are to be unveiled from Seville on May 6, and brings the number of Laureus Academy members to 71.
Laureus described the retired Nicol David as “arguably the greatest women’s player” in the history of squash.
The pride of Penang was No.1 in the world for a record-breaking 108 months until September 2015, and won the World Open a record eight times between 2005 and 2014.
She also dominated the British Open, Commonwealth Games and Asian Games, and was recently named World Games “Greatest of All Time” in non-Olympic sports in a global poll conducted by the International World Games Association.
Nicol said: “This is truly an incredible honour to be recognised by Laureus as an Academy Member together with all the sporting greats in their field that have impacted the world of sports.
“I’ve always dreamed of being part of Laureus even when I was a young athlete. Sport is life-changing and it has certainly changed my life. I will do my very best to contribute in fulfilling Laureus’ vision by reaching out to more children and communities in need through sport in my own country Malaysia and globally as well."
Source: https://www.laureus.com