L-R, Bolt, Messi and Djokovic

Who should be the best male athlete for 2015?

It will be a difficult question to resolve for the organisers of the Laureus Awards as nominees for  the awards were announced.

For the Best Male Athlete are  World number one tennis player, Novak Djokovic, world sprints champion, Usain Bolt and world footballer of the year Lionel Messi. US basketballer Stephen Curry  who had broken so many records and Formula One champion, Lewis Hamilton were also on the list. Jordan Spieth, the golfer makes the sixth nominee.

Djokovic, won three Grand Slam titles last year, Bolt  won three gold medals at the world athletics championships, and Messi won the 2015 Ballon d’Or for a record fifth time.

Serena Williams

In the best female athlete category are  2014 winner Genzebe Dibaba of Ethiopia,  Jamaica’s 100m world champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, U.S. tennis star Serena Williams, who came close to winning all four Grand Slam titles, Alpine skiing world champion Anna Fenninger of Austria, U.S. swimmer Katie Ledecky and American footballer Carli LLoyd.

New Zealand’s rugby team, the All Blacks, are in the running for the team award having successfully defended their crown at the 2015 Rugby World Cup hosted by England.

China’s Liu Cuiqing was nominated for the disability category with Boccia player Leung Yuk Wing from Hong Kong, China also in this category.

The 17th edition of the Laureus World Sports Awards will be held on April 18 in Berlin.