BOLT, ISINBAYEVA NAMED 2008 IAAF ATHLETES OF THE YEAR
By Bob Ramsak
(c) 2008 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved. Used with permission.
MONTE
CARLO, Monaco (23-Nov) -- Olympic champions and world record holders
Usain Bolt of Jamaica and Yelena Isinbayeva of Russia were named the
2008 IAAF World Athletes of the Year at the World Athletics Gala here
tonight.
Bolt, 22, captivated the imagination of the sporting
world when he captured three gold medals at the Olympic Games in
Beijing in August, sweeping the 100 and 200 meters and running the
third leg on the victorious 4x100m relay. His run of 9.69 seconds in
the 100 and 19.30 in the 200m were both world records, as was the 37.10
performance by the Jamaican relay squad. In June, Bolt set his first
world record in the 100, beating world champion Tyson Gay and running
9.72 at the Reebok Grand Prix in New York City.
Isinbayeva, 26,
raised her own world record in the pole vault three times outdoors in
2008, first to 5.03m in Rome and 5.04m in Monaco in June, and again to
5.05m when she successfully defended her Olympic title in Beijing. It
was the second consecutive Olympic Games in which Isinbayeva set a
world record at the Olympic Games.
"I have a motto that anything
is possible, but this really is such an honor," said the improbably
tall Bolt, who became Jamaica's first-ever Olympic 100m champion.
"Just to be included with every great name in the sport is wonderful.
I'll try to do it year after year."
"I'm very proud; it feels
like the first time," said Isinbayeva, who took Athlete of the Year
honors in 2004 and 2005. "I will make a very special place of honor for
this trophy."
While Bolt was an overwhelming favorite for the
sport's top annual prize (he was selected over double Olympic champion
Kenenisa Bekele and world marathon record holder Haile Gebrselassie),
Isinbayeva reportedly narrowly edged Ethiopian distance star Tirunesh
Dibaba, who produced an unprecedented Olympic double victory in the
5000 and 10,000m in Beijing, and also set a world record in the 5000m
with 14:11.15 in Oslo in June.
Dibaba, along with Czech
Olympic javelin champion Barbora Spotakova, shared the award for
performance of the year. Spotakova broke the javelin world record with
a 72.28m throw at the World Athletics Final in Stuttgart in September.
Olympic 110m hurdles champion Dayron Robles of Cuba, who broke the
world record in his event with 12.87 run in June, won the men's
performance of the year award.
Kenyan teenager Pamela Jelimo,
who produced a nearly unprecedented rise from obscurity to finish the
season undefeated in the 800m this season, won the Revelation of the
year award. Jelimo, who captured the Olympic title and the $1 million
IAAF Jackpot, didn't take up the event until April.
Both Bolt and Isinbayeva each received $100,000 as part of their award.
PHOTO CREDIT: Usain Bolt and Yelena Isinbayeva at the Fairmont Hotel in Monte Carlo (Photo by Bob Ramsak, Race Results Weekly)