With 75% (18 out of 24) of the jurors' votes, Rafael Nadal was unveiled as the winner of this year's Prince of Asturias sports prize in Oviedo earlier this morning.

It is another milestone in what is turning out to be quite a year for the new world number one, who, apart from successfully defending his French Open title for the third time in a row, is also the new Wimbledon and Olympic champion.

Later today, Nadal takes on Mardy Fish as he bids to reach the semi-final stage of the US Open for the first time on his least favourite fast-court surface.

Euro 2008 squad among Prince of Asturias prize finalists
By: thinkSPAIN
Tuesday, September 2, 2008

Rafael Nadal, the Spanish football team, Michael Phelps, Usain Bolt and Yelena Isinbayeva are the five finalists for this year's Prince of Asturias prize, that will be announced tomorrow in Oviedo.

Among the candidates that failed to make the final shortlist are: Roger Federer, Olympic cycling veteran, Joan Llaneras, Gemma Mengual and the rest of the Spanish synochronised swim team, Pele, Alfredo di Stefano, Sir Alex Ferguson, Ethiopian athlete, Haile Gebrelassie, Pau Gasol and Ciudad Real handball team.

Previous winners:
1987 Sebastian Coe
1988 Juan Antonio Samaranch
1989 Severiano Ballesteros
1990 Sito Pons
1991 Sergei Bubka
1992 Miguel Indurain
1993 Javier Sotomayor
1994 Martina Navratilova
1995 Hassiba Boulmerka
1996 Carl Lewis
1997 The Spanish marathon team
1998 Arantxa Sánchez Vicario
1999 Steffi Graf
2000 Lance Armstrong
2001 Manuel Estiarte
2002 The Brazilian football team
2003 The Tour de France
2004 Hicham El Guerrouj
2005 Fernando Alonso
2006 The Spanish basketball team
2007 Michael Schumacher

Bolt, Phelps and Nadal shortlisted for Prince of Asturias prize
By: thinkSPAIN
Monday, September 1, 2008

Among the favourites to win this year's Prince of Asturias sports prize are Olympic champions, Usain Bolt, Michael Phelps and Rafael Nadal.

Russian pole vaulter, Yelena Isinbayeva, Ethiopian middle distance runner, Haile Gebreselassie and the team that tried to rescue Navarran mountaineer, Iñaki Ochoa, who died on Mt. Annapurna last May, have also been shortlisted.

Previous winners of the prize include Michael Schumacher, the Spanish basketball team, Fernando Alonso, Sebastian Coe, Severiano Ballesteros and Lance Armstrong.

The jury will announce its decision next Wednesday.