Boxing great Muhammad Ali was honored Thursday with the Liberty Medal for his longtime role outside the ring as a fighter for humanitarian causes, civil rights and religious freedom.
The 70-year-old retired champ, hobbled by a 30-year battle with Parkinson's disease, did not speak. But he stood with assistance to receive the medal from his daughter Laila Ali.
He looked down at his medal for several moments and then waved to the crowd. The award comes with a $100,000 cash prize. [ SOURCE ]
About The Liberty Medal:
Established in 1988 to commemorate the bicentennial of the U.S. Constitution, the Liberty Medal is awarded annually to men and women of courage and conviction who strive to secure the blessings of liberty to people around the globe. The medal was first administered by the National Constitution Center in 2006, when Presidents George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton were honored for their bipartisan humanitarian efforts on behalf of the victims of the tsunami in Southeast Asia and the hurricanes on the Gulf Coast. Other past Liberty Medal recipients include Nelson Mandela, Shimon Peres, Kofi Annan, Sandra Day O’Connor, and Bono. Six recipients of the medal have subsequently won the Nobel Peace Prize.
Complete list of Liberty Medal Winners
2011 - Robert Gates
2010 - Tony Blair
2009 - Steven Spielberg
2008 - Mikhail Gorbachev
2007 - Bono & DATA
2006 - George H.W. Bush & William J. Clinton
2005 - Viktor Yushchenko
2004 - Hamid Karzai
2003 - Sandra Day O'Connor
2002 - Colin Powell
2001 - Kofi Annan
2000 - James Watson & Francis Crick
1999 - Kim Dae-jung
1998 - George Mitchell
1997 - CNN International
1996 - King Hussein & Shimon Peres
1995 - Sadako Ogata
1994- Vaclav Havel
1993 - Nelson Mandela & F.W. de Klerk
1992 - Thurgood MarshallM
1991 - Médecins Sans Frontières & Oscar Arias
1990 - Jimmy Carter
1989 - Lech Walesa
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