<Tr> <Th> Website </Th> <Td> Official website </Td> </Tr> <P> The Laureus World Sports Award for Sportsman of the Year is an annual award honouring the achievements of individual men from the world of sports . It was first awarded in 2000 as one of the seven constituent awards presented during the Laureus World Sports Awards . The awards are presented by the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation, a global organisation involved in more than 150 charity projects supporting 500,000 young people . The first ceremony was held on 25 May 2000 in Monte Carlo, at which Nelson Mandela gave the keynote speech . As of 2018, a shortlist of six nominees for the award comes from a panel composed of the "world's leading sports editors, writers and broadcasters". The Laureus World Sports Academy then selects the winner who is presented with a Laureus statuette, created by Cartier, at the annual awards ceremony held in various locations around the world . The awards are considered highly prestigious and are frequently referred to as the sporting equivalent of "Oscars". </P> <P> The inaugural winner of the award was the American golfer Tiger Woods who finished the 1999 season with eight wins, a feat not achieved since 1974, including the PGA Championship . He went on to become the most dominant player of his era, earning a second Laureus Award the following year, and five further nominations between 2002 and 2008 . The 2003 winner of the Laureus World Sports Award for Sportsman of the Year was the American road cyclist Lance Armstrong . He had been nominated the previous year, and earned further nominations in 2004, 2005 and 2006 . Following Armstrong's 2013 admission of doping, all his Laureus awards and nominations were rescinded . Tennis players dominate the winners list, with nine awards, while athletes have won four times, Formula One drivers three times, and golfers twice . Excluding Armstrong, the Laureus World Sports Award for Sportsman of the Year has been won by just seven individuals since its inception . The 2018 winner of the Laureus Sports Award for Sportsman of the Year was the Swiss tennis player Roger Federer, who now has the most wins with five . </P> <Table> Key <Tr> <Th> * </Th> <Td> Indicates individual whose award or nomination was later rescinded </Td> </Tr> </Table>

Who was named as a sports person of the year 2018