Lake Forest, California * - Fourteen year-old pro skateboarder Ryan Sheckler * has been nominated for "one of the world's most prestigious honors in sports, The Laureus World Sports Award," which seeks to honor "the world's very best athletes."

Reportedly, Ryan is the youngest professional skateboarder to ever win a pro street competition, at the age of thirteen. He continued to build quite a name for himself last year, winning numerous major street skateboarding competitions in 2003 *, including the Slam City Jam *, gold medals in both the X Games and Gravity Games *, as well the overall title of the WCS Triple Crown Of Skateboarding *.

Ryan has been nominated in the category of Alternative Sportsman of the Year. Other nominees in the category include Shaun White (snowboarding, USA *) and Layne Beachley (Surfing, Australia *).

The Laureus World Sports Awards claim to be "recognized as the premier honor of the international sporting calendar" and "unique in that they honor the world's best sportsmen and women for their achievements across all sports and all countries."

The 2003 Laureus World Sports Awards Ceremony was televised for global distribution and invited guests reportedly included some of the the worlds top international athletes and celebrities, including HSH Prince Albert, Rod Stewart, David Hasselhoff, Patsy Kensit and Rachel Hunter. According to organizers, 320 million people worldwide watched the 2003 awards ceremony.

The fifth annual Laureus World Sports Awards will be held in Estoril, on the Lisbon Coast, Portugal *, from May 8 - 10, 2004 *.

Ryan is sponsored by Etnies *, Almost, Volcom *, Darkstar *, Tensor *, Boost Mobile, Jokers, RDS Skate Supply, Sobe, nixon * Watches, Yamaha *, ProTec, Shorty's *, Clive *, Ninja Bearings *, Throttle Junkie, and AlpineStars.

Established in 1986 *, Ryan's current sponsor etnies started out with the goal of "designing the best skate shoes on the planet". Etnies claims to be the manufacturer of the first pro model skateboarding shoe ever, the Natas *, and since then their business has expanded include snowboarding, surfing, moto-x and BMX.

More information can be found about Laureus at www.laureus.com. More information about etnies can be found by contacting Etnies via Timothy Nickloff, etnies Public Relations at 949-460-2020 ext.2957, or Craig Metzger etnies East Coast Public Relations at 212-965-1780. More information about Ryan Sheckler can be found at ryansheckler.com

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