Manny Pacquiao Nominated as USSA "Athlete of the Year"

The Boxing superstar Manny Pacquiao is among the 12 nominees for the United States Sports Academy's (USSA) 2011 Male Athlete of the Year.

Philboxing.com reported that Pacquiao was nominated together with known personality in different field of sports namely David Beckham (soccer), Patrick Chan (figure skating), Novak Djokovic (tennis), Kirani James (track and field), Ryan Lochte (swimming), Rory McIlroy (golf), Geoffrey Mutai (marathon), Dirk Nowitzki (basketball), Aaron Rodgers (football), Kohei Uchimura (gymnastics) and Justin Verlander (baseball).

The annual awarding rites, which also recognize a female athlete, are held in cooperation with USA Today and NBC Sports.

Here are the 12 nominees for USSA’s “Female Athlete of the Year” are Miki Ando (figure skating), Seimone Augustus (basketball), Tatyana Chernova (track and field), Kim Clijsters (tennis), English Gardner (college track and field), Carmelita Jeter (track and field), Li Na (tennis), Federica Pellegrini (swimming), Yani Tseng (golf), Lindsey Vonn (skiing), Jordyn Wieber (gymnastics) and Chrissie Wellington (triathlon).