MADRID, Dec 23: American cyclist Lance Armstrong, who won his fourth consecutive Tour de France this year, was voted foreign sportsperson of the year by the Spanish daily newspaper El Pais on Monday.

Armstrong headed Germany’s five-times Formula One world champion Michael Schumacher and Italian motorcyclist Valentino Rossi in the poll of 100 leading sporting figures in Spain.

The Spanish sportsperson of the year was basketball player Pau Gasol, who became the first European to be named NBA Rookie of the Year after joining Memphis Grizzlies from FC Barcelona.

The country’s revelation of the year was Elena Gomez, who became the first Spanish woman to win gold at a gymnastics world championships when she won the floor discipline in last month’s competition in Debrecen, Hungary.

The European Athletics Championships in Munich, at which Spain won six golds to finish third in the medals table behind Russia and Britain, was voted the sporting event of the year.—Reuters