Swimming stars lead nominations for top awards

The Chinese swimming team has high hopes of collecting a swag of trophies after earning seven nominations at the 2012 Anta CCTV Sports Personality of the Year awards ceremony.

The annual event, regarded as the premier gala on the Chinese sporting calendar, unveiled its final five nominees for each of its 10 categories in Beijing on Thursday.

Spearheaded by Sun Yang (pictured) and Ye Shiwen, Chinese swimmers won five gold medals, one silver and two bronze at the London Olympics, breaking two world records and three Olympic records in the process.