MADRID, May 16 (Xinhua) -- Italian mountaineer Reinhold Messner and Polish mountaineer Krzysztof Wielicki have won the Princess of Asturias Award for Sports, the foundation reported on Wednesday.

"Reinhold Messner and Krzysztof Wielicki embody the essence of mountaineering, a sport in which both, through their numerous expeditions to the Himalayas, have accomplished great feats and have marked new milestones, becoming an example and inspiration for new generations of climbers," the Princess of Asturias Foundation said.

Reinhold became the first man to conquer the 14 summits taller than 8,000 meters that exist on the planet.

He was also involved into politics being a member of the European Parliament for The Greens, wrote some 50 books and is the founder of the Mountain Wilderness NGO, which aims at the conservation of natural areas.

Wielicki has been a mountaineer since he was 14 in his native Poland.

He is the world's fifth man to have conquered the planet's 14 summits taller than 8,000 meters. He also made the first ascents in winter to the summits of over 8,000 meters.

The 69-year old mountaineer, author or co-author of several books, dedicates a large part of his time nowadays to spreading the values of mountaineering and to advising practitioners of the sport.

This is the fourth of eight Princess of Asturias awards to be bestowed this year, including a prize of 50,000 euros (58,974 US dollars).