Germany's Sebastian Vettel and United States' swimmer Missy Franklin were crowned as the World Sportsman and Sportswoman of the Year at the Laureus World Sports Award 2014 at Istana Budaya, on Wednesday night.

The event was attended by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak and wife, Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor.

Vettel, the youngest four-time Formula One world champion in history at the age of 26, was overwhelmed when he received the award.

"To be nominated for the award is a great honour for me and to win the award, is truly very special. It is totally a very special moment for me as I can sit among the great sporting legends," said Vettel in a press conference after receiving his award.

He noted that he never looked down on the other nominees, among them were Christiano Ronaldo and Rafael Nadal.

"The other nominees are very committed in their very own sports but I enjoyed the privilege to accept the award," he said.

United States' swimmer, Missy Franklin who created history in swimming at the World Championships was speechless when accepting the award.

"It was just unbelievable, I just can't imagine. There are so many other notable athletes and I was chosen," said Franklin in her short speech after receiving her trophy.

In her speech, Franklin also expressed her deepest condolence to families of flight MH370 which was reported to have ended in the Southern Indian Ocean.

"My thoughts and prayers are with them," said the 18-year-old swimmer.

For the record, Franklin won six gold medals - three individual and three relays - at a single World Championship in Barcelona, Spain last year. She also won four gold medals at the 2012 London Olympics.

Spain's Marc Marquez received the Laureus Breakthrough of the Year Award, after winning the World MotoGP Championship at the age of 20.

It was Marquez's first Laureus Award, but his fellow Spaniard Rafael Nadal secured his third Laureus Statuette, when he won the Laureus World Comeback of the Year Award, returning after a seven-month absence because of injury to win the French Open and US Open Grand Slam titles and regain his world no.1 ranking.

Meanwhile, Germany's top football team Bayern Munich was selected as the Team of the Year and BMX cyclist Jamie Bestwick of the United Kingdom was the recipient of the Action Sportsperson of the Year for his excellent performance in the X-Games after winning eight straight gold medals.

Afghanistan's Cricket Team that was formed in a country devastated by war and reached their first Cricket World Cup in 2013, emerged as the winner of the Breakthrough of the Year Award.

France's Marie Bochet, 19, won the Laureus World Sportsperson of the Year with a Disability Award after becoming the first athlete to complete a Grand Slam of all five events at one Alpine Skiing World Championship.

2014 LAUREUS WORLD SPORTS AWARD WINNERS:

Laureus World Sportsman of the Year: Sebastian Vettel
Laureus World Sportswoman of the Year: Missy Franklin
Laureus World Team of the Year: Bayern Munich
Laureus World Breakthrough of the Year: Marc Marquez
Laureus World Comeback of the Year: Rafael Nadal
Laureus World Sportsperson of the Year with a Disability: Marie Bochet
Laureus World Action Sportsperson of the Year: Jamie Bestwick

There were two additional Awards: the Laureus Spirit of Sports Award was presented to the Afghanistan Cricket Team and the Laureus Sports for Good Award was presented to Magic Bus, the sports-based community project in India.