DECEMBER 31, 2001

Schumacher wins again

FRENCH daily sports newspaper L'Equipe has named Michael Schumacher as their sportsman of 2001 just days after naming his team, Ferrari, as team of 2001.

Schumacher beat out Australian swimmer Ian Thorpe, Italian 500cc motorcycle World Champion Valentino Rossi, and Moroccan track star Hicham El Guerrouj for the honor.

The German, who won his fourth World Championship and became the winningest driver in Formula One history in 2001, said of the award, "I'm very surprised and very honored by this nomination, but I know that standings like this one will never give a true image of all the year's performances so I also want to pay tribute to all the athletes who were nominated by the jury".