BEKELE, DIBABA & JELIMO AMONGST AOY FINALISTS
By David Monti
(c) 2008 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved. Used with Permission.

Olympic gold medalists Kenenisa Bekele, Tirunesh Dibaba and Pamela Jelimo are amongst the six finalists for the IAAF Athlete of the Year honors which will be presented at the 2008 World Athletics Gala in Monaco on November 23, the IAAF announced today.

Both Bekele and Dibaba of Ethiopia accomplished impressive double victories in Beijing at the 5000m and 10,000m, while Jelimo, a Kenyan, won the 800m.  Bekele set Olympic records at both distances and won the IAAF World Cross Country Championships; Dibaba broke the 5000m world record and also won World Cross; Jelimo had a storybook year, winning every 800m race she contested despite only trying the event for the first time this year.  Jelimo also won the IAAF Golden League $1MM jackpot.

Other candidates are triple Olympic sprints gold medalist Usain Bolt of Jamaica, Olympic pole vault champion and world record holder Yelena Isinbayeva of Russia, and Olympic 110m hurdles champion Dayron Robles of Cuba.