The latest Halberg Awards nominees have been released, headed unsurprisingly by New Zealand's London Olympic stars.The awards for 2012 performances, which will be held in Auckland on Thursday, February 14, sees a total of 63 nominees unveiled.Valerie Adams is once again in the running for sportswoman of the year, but this time goes up against fellow Olympic champion Lisa Carrington and teenage golf prodigy Lydia Ko, the world number one women's amateur and youngest winner of a professional tour event.The men's list is littered with 12 athletes, ranging from Olympic champion Mahe Drysdale to 21-year-old freestyle motocross world champion Levi Sherwood - posing the judging panel with the tough job of determining which achievement is more impressive.Another nightmare for the judges will be deciding team of the year. Eighteen options include London 2012 champion rowing crews Hamish Bond and Eric Murray, Nathan Cohen and Joseph Sullivan and gold sailing duo Jo Aleh and Polly Powrie.The team category also features the All Blacks, Silver Ferns and the back-to-back Australian NBL champion Breakers.The disabled category is headed by Sophie Pascoe who enjoyed another highly successful Olympic campaign in London. The voting panel will now vote to determine finalists which are announced on January 1st 2013. Any outstanding performances by individual athletes or teams are still considered until December 31, 2012.Geoff Burgess, chief executive of naming sponsor Westpac, pointed to the strength in depth of this year's candidates and inevitably, public debate."There have been so many captivating sporting performances in 2012 that I am sure will fuel public speculation leading up to the Awards," Burgess said."Five gold medals and a record-equalling 13-medal haul at the London Olympics was part of an incredible year that also saw the Silver Ferns and All Blacks dominate their competition, and the New Zealand Paralympic Team bring home a remarkable 17 medals,""In 2012, we also saw new sporting stars emerge, not to mention the outstanding victories of the Chiefs, the Waikato-Bay of Plenty Magic and the NZ Breakers to mention a few, the competition is huge this year."