Noya has been selected alongside athletes of the stature of Cristiano Ronaldo, Leo Messi, Marc Maquez or Formula 1 driver Lewis Hamilton.
The list of nominees will be published on February 11 in a vote carried out by sports journalists from around the world. and the finalist will be known at the awards ceremony in Shanghai on April 15.
The rest of the selected athletes have been the golfer Rory McIlroy; the athletes Renaud Lavillenie and Robert Harting, the gymnast Kohei Uchimura; the table tennis player Jike Chinese; the rugby player Jonny Wilkinson; skiers Marcel Hirscher and Ole Einar Bjorndalen; the cricketer Mitchell Johnson; the swimmers Chad le Clos and Ning Ze Tao; the boxers Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao; the basketball player Kevin Durant; baseball player Mike Trout; the cyclist Vincenzo Nibali; and the polo player Adolfo Cambiaso
Photo: Javier Gómez Noya