He was a peerless genius in the motorcycle world, setting an undefeated myth of thirteen consecutive championships in the history of the Superbike World Championship at the age of twenty. In his first year in the industry, he also won the annual championship, secured the title of Rookie of the Year, and was inducted into the Hall of Fame.
In my personal opinion, the Rookie of the Year honor is somewhat inappropriate for him, not because he is unqualified, but because he has completely exceeded expectations.
Many people at the scene already knew who Stina was referring to, and Stina's gaze was also subtly directed towards Lin Yan, with a faint smile seemingly present, which was absent in others before.
"Now I announce the winner of the Laureus World Sports Award for Rookie of the Year is..."
"Legendary racer Lin Yan from China!"
Stina's pronunciation of the Chinese name Lin Yan was not very standard, and the pronunciation was a bit awkward, but the people in the live chat at this moment completely disregarded these details.
"Damn, why am I so excited even though I guessed it was Lin Shen long ago?"
"Congratulations, Lin Shen! Our fourth person from China to win a Laureus Award."
In an instant, the messages in the live chat scrolled wildly, densely packed with congratulations. As the live chat mentioned, this was the fourth person in Chinese history to win a Laureus Award. Countless people were nominated, but only these four truly made it to the shortlist.
As a newcomer, Stina actually added the word "legendary" in the introductory prefix. This is the mark of the Hall of Fame; every driver inducted into the Hall of Fame can be called a legend.
Under the gaze of those around him, Lin Yan slowly walked onto the stage and stood beside Stina.
Two world supermodels, under the gaze of the cameras, picked up the trophy from the tray and handed it to Lin Yan.
"Mr. Lin Yan, I've seen you on TV before. I didn't expect you to be even younger in person than on television today."
Under the camera's gaze, Stina subtly leaned closer to Lin Yan and said with a smile in a reasonably fluent Chinese, making it clear that she had a very good impression of Lin Yan. It's understandable, after all, handsome guys are popular everywhere, let alone Lin Yan, who is handsome, rich, and capable.
"Good heavens, I've watched for so many years, and this is the first time I've heard Stina speak Chinese. I suddenly feel Lin Shen is so amazing!"
"The one upstairs, wasn't Lin Shen amazing before?"
"Didn't you guys notice? It seems like Stina deliberately leaned towards Lin Shen."
"Huh? Don't say it, you really don't say it, I seem to have noticed it too, it really is a little bit."
"......"
Sensing Stina's movement, Lin Yan subtly dodged and, taking the microphone, replied politely. His magnetic voice, amplified, reached every corner of the auditorium.
"Well, although this is my first time seeing you, you are also very young and beautiful."
His tone was very serious. If Stina's previous words could be said to carry a hint of subtle charm, then Lin Yan's tone in saying this was purely polite, pure courtesy.
"Haha, Sister-in-law is still below, Lin Shen is showing strong survival instincts."
"I've realized it, maybe Lin Shen is henpecked? It looks like Sister-in-law has him completely under control! Haha!"
"......"
In the live chat, many people teased Lin Yan for his very serious demeanor.
Hearing Lin Yan's words, Stina was also a little surprised. She paused in her mind but continued without changing her expression.
"Then I thank you for your compliment."
After saying that, she didn't continue the conversation and hung the medal around Lin Yan's neck, thus concluding the award ceremony.
Below the stage, Luca's gaze shifted slightly as he watched the two. Stina's attitude towards Lin Yan, in particular, made his expression darken considerably. He lowered his head, lost in thought, as he watched Lin Yan descend from the stage.
Amidst a round of applause, Lin Yan slowly walked down from the stage. The Laureus trophy's design, like its meaning, was highly individualistic and heroic. A silver figure full of muscles held up a curved lever with both arms. Returning to his seat, Lin Yan handed the trophy to Su Mojin.
A sense of security is always given inadvertently, just like Lin Yan casually handing the trophy to Su Mojin after sitting down. A simple and casual gesture made Su Mojin's sense of security and happiness skyrocket.
"He gave the trophy to Sister-in-law so casually? This... this..."
"It is indeed a bit casual, but it's nothing, isn't it normal to casually give your own things to your wife?"
"Brother, that's a Laureus trophy, and that gesture seems too casual. I feel like Lin Shen doesn't value this award very much!"
"Nonsense, that's Lin Shen doting on his wife. Did you forget what happened last time we went to Jialin's entrance? For a wedding, each of us who gathered at the entrance received two packs of Huazi, red envelopes, and wedding candies. With such fan devotion, isn't it normal to give his wife a trophy?"
Trolls, as they should be, exist. Even for Lin Yan, when someone wants to criticize, they can find fault with even a casual action.
Su Mojin carefully held the trophy in her arms, her gaze soft as she looked at Lin Yan. She seemed a little surprised to receive the trophy but still held it carefully, afraid of bumping or damaging it.
"Why do I feel like I'm shipping a couple? I feel like Sister-in-law is really well-behaved like this! It feels like a domineering CEO and his sweet wife."
"Nonsense, with Lin Shen's status, I would be well-behaved too!"
"The brother upstairs, playing the card of reality."
After the announcement of the secondary awards, it was time for the most exciting main awards: Athlete of the Year and Sportswoman of the Year.
The list of nominees was displayed on the screen behind the stage; there were six people in total.
Golf, tennis, F1, football, high jump. Apart from Lin Yan, the remaining were from these five fields.
Golf had already been excluded. Although the football player was also very good, the nature of his sport made it difficult for him to be nominated. Laureus is about extreme individual heroism, and team sports are difficult to select.
If Lin Yan remembered correctly, since its establishment, the only person from a team sport to be selected was that king of football, Messi. And the person in front of him had clearly not reached that level yet.
As for the remaining four people, Lin Yan's achievements were definitely the highest, but what he lacked was seniority and the popularity of the competition, followed by Luca.
Logically, if this freak Lin Yan hadn't appeared, then he would have been the winner this year. Unfortunately, this freak Lin Yan was too terrifying. As his competitor, Luca had investigated Lin Yan. To be honest, he couldn't achieve what Lin Yan had, unless he could bring his current level back to the past.
At twenty years old, he had dominated all the top experts in the industry from the moment he entered the field. This was equivalent to you going to take an exam with sixth graders when you were just in the first grade, doing the sixth graders' papers, and still scoring first place in the entire school.