Olympic stars Mo Farah and Usain Bolt, along with Formula One world champion Sebastian Vettel, tennis ace Rafael Nadal, Real Madrid superstar Cristiano Ronaldo and basketball star LeBron James have reportedly been nominated for the Laureus World Sportsman of the Year honour.
Farah's achievement in winning the 5,000m and 10,000m double at last year's World Championships in Moscow has seen him nominated on the same day he announced he will run in the New York City Half Marathon in March, one month before he makes his debut over 26.2 miles at the London Marathon.
According to the BBC, Bolt, who has won the award three times, is again nominated for the honours, and the ceremony will take place in Kuala Lumpur on March 26.
Among the other nominations are Nadine Angerer, Missy Franklin, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, Yelena Isinbayeva, Tina Maze and Serena Williams.
Golfer Justin Rose is nominated for Breakthrough of the Year, while Four-time Olympic gold medallist Ben Ainslie is nominated for the World Comeback of the Year award as a member of Oracle Team USA, which won the America's Cup in thrilling fashion last September.
The nominations follow a ballot by the world's media and the winners are voted for by the Laureus World Sports Academy, which is made up of 46 of the greatest sportsmen and sportswomen of all-time, the report added.
