McLaren racer Lewis Hamilton has won a prestigious Laureus Award at the 2008 Awards Ceremony in St.Petersburg, Russia, the Breakthrough of the Year Award presented for his remarkable debut season in Formula 1.

"It's quite a strange feeling being here. I feel a bit overwhelmed,” he said. “Looking around (at the nominees) I didn't think I deserved it as much as the others. I just hope I can do my country proud and I keep working and achieve all my goals in the future. This year I will approach it with the same determination if not more."

The Laureus World Sports Awards, whose Global Partners include Mercedes-Benz and Vodafone, is the only global sports awards honouring the greatest sportsmen and women across all sports each year.

The winners are selected by the ultimate sports jury - the 43 members of the Laureus World Sports Academy, a collection of the world's greatest sportsmen and women. The living legends of sport honouring the great athletes of today.

The Awards were presented in seven categories. The winners were:

Laureus World Sportsman of the Year: Roger Federer
Laureus World Sportswoman of the Year: Justine Henin
Laureus World Team of the Year: South African Rugby Team
Laureus World Breakthrough of the Year: Lewis Hamilton
Laureus World Comeback of the Year: Paula Radcliffe
Laureus World Sportsperson of the Year with a Disability: Esther Vergeer
Laureus World Action Sportsperson of the Year: Shaun White