Grapevine: Schumacher Loses Out to Ronaldo in Poll

World Champion Michael Schumacher lost out to football star Ronaldo, who scored both goals in Brazil's 2-0 World Cup final win over Germany, as Reuters sportsman of 2002.

Thirty-four sports editors and journalists from 27 countries nominated up to three leading sportsmen of 2002. Each first place choice was awarded three points, second place got two points and third place received one point.

Striker Ronaldo, who came back after three years of injury to score eight goals at the World Cup, won with 63 points out of a total of 102. German Formula One champion Schumacher came in second with 48 points, while Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong was third with 29 points.

"Ronaldo's comeback from a long injury recovery to become World Cup champion and best scorer will be remembered as one of the greatest sporting achievements of all time," said Andre Fontenelle, a contributing editor at Placar in Brazil.

Sports journalists said Ronaldo's performance at this year's World Cup allowed him to lay to rest the memories of the 1998 France tournament when Brazil lost 3-0 to France in the final.

"After suffering such a nightmare in the 1998 World Cup, Ronaldo's success four years later was all the more remarkable," said Roger Crutchley at The Bangkok Post.

Schumacher Dominant

"He was instrumental in Brazil's World Cup victory," said Ori Lewis at Ha'aretz English Edition in Israel. "He proved that he can play at his best on the big occasions, dispelling any doubts about his talent and temperament."

Other sports editors opted for Michael Schumacher, winner of last year's Reuters poll.

"He dominated the Formula One season ... and even equalled the record of Juan Manuel Fangio with his fifth title," said Joseph Farrugia at l-orizzont in Malta.

Schumacher claimed 11 Grand Prix victories in 2002 and is aiming to win a record sixth Formula One title next season.

Jeremy Walker at Asahi Shimbun in Japan voted for four times Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong.

"Winning the Tour de France once is tough enough, but being a multiple champion in surely the world's hardest sports event is an incredible achievement," he said.

Cut Above

U.S. golfer Tiger Woods, five times winner on this year's PGA Tour, received 15 points in the poll. Woods won the first two major championships of the year, the U.S. Masters and the U.S. Open.

U.S. sprinter Tim Montgomery, who broke the men's 100 metres world record with a stunning performance of 9.78 seconds at the Paris grand prix final, came fifth with 13 points.

Other key sportsmen of the year mentioned in the Reuters poll included swimmer Ian Thorpe and tennis number one Lleyton Hewitt, both Australians, along with Norwegian biathlete Ole Einar Bjoerndalen, who won four gold medals at the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City.

Manos Staramopoulos at Eleftheros Typos in Greece voted for Ronaldo's Real Madrid and Brazil teammate, Roberto Carlos. "Quite simply he won everything this year: the World Cup, the Champions League, Super Cup ... A world class player," he said.