One of the most fiercely contested categories at this year's Laureus World Sports Awards was the battle for the mantle of Laureus World Alternative Sportsperson of the Year.

This category honors athletic supremacy in the so-called extreme, or unconventional, sports and all five contenders for the 2001 title could boast either unrivalled domination or unique achievement in their respective disciplines.

Australia's Layne Beachley is the undisputed number one female surfer in the world; American Tara Dakides is the first female snowboarder to bridge the freestyle trick gap between men and women; South African extreme adventurer Mike Horn last year became the first person to circumnavigate the world at the equator without the benefit of motor-power; Slovenia's Davo Karnicar last October made the first full ski descent of Mount Everest; and American mountain biker John Stamstad has set an almost unbeatable record in gruelling solo endurance races.

All five are genuinely worthy for Laureus honors awarded in Monaco and it was the tough task of the World Sports Academy, an assembly of 39 sporting legends, to decide upon the eventual winner by secret ballot.

The Academy's Founder Members include footballers Pelé and Michel Platini, basketball player Michael Jordan, gymnast Nadia Comaneci, cricketers Ian Botham and Kapil Dev, tennis players Martina Navratilova, Ivan Lendl and Boris Becker, athletes Edwin Moses and Daley Thompson and golfers Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player and Seve Ballesteros.

American mountain biker John Stamstad can lay claim to being one of the most driven endurance athletes on earth. Widely known as "Stamina Man," he has put together a seemingly unmatchable seven-year winning streak in the Iditasport race, which runs along the famous Iditarod Trail in Alaska. He has also riden the 2,500-mile Great Divide Mountain Bike Route, with more than 200,000 vertical feet of climbing, in only 18 days and five hours; normal riders would take up to 70 days.

Apart from his seventh successive victory last year in the Iditasport Extreme, he won the 2000 Solo category in the Subaru Gorge Games 24 Hour Race and also the 24 Hours of Snowshoe on a notoriously difficult and dangerous course.

Though the eventual winner in the Alternative Sports category was Mike Horn, Stamstad's nomination underscores the acceptance of mountain biking in the greater world of sports.

The Laureus World Sports Awards, which were established last year by Richemont and DaimlerChrysler to honor the achievements of the world's greatest sportsmen and women on an annual basis, recognise and reward sporting supremacy during the period between 1 February 2000 and January 31 this year.

Last year's inaugural Laureus World Sports Awards ceremony in Monaco saw Tiger Woods voted as World Sportsman of the Year, while Marion Jones was named World Sportswoman of the Year. The other recipients of the prestigious Laureus Trophy last year were: Manchester United (World Team of the Year); Sergio Garcia (World Newcomer of the Year); Lance Armstrong (World Comeback of the Year); Louise Sauvage (World Sportsperson of the Year with a Disability); Shaun Palmer (World Alternative Sportsperson of the Year).