Sally Pearson and Usain Bolt win IAAF ‘Athlete of the Year’ awards – Athletics news
Jamaican sprinter, Usain Bolt and Australian athlete, Sally Pearson, were honoured with the male and female ‘Athlete of the Year’ awards respectively, at a ceremony held in Monte Carlo, Monaco, by the International Association of Athletics Federation (IAAF),
on November 12, 2011.
Sally Pearson dominated the women’s 100m hurdles category this year, and won ten out of eleven competitions. Seven of her displays in the category were entitled as the season’s fastest performances. Her effort at the distance with a finishing time of 12.28
seconds made her the fourth fastest woman in the history of the discipline. The feat was also the fastest performance in nearly two decades.
Sally, after being honoured with the recognition, said, “It was a little surprising that I won, Vivian (Cheruiyot) was a three-time World champion and Valerie (Adams) just dominates every time she’s out there. She’s the role model athlete everyone should
look up to.”
The world’s fastest man, Bolt, won the award for the third time and Sally Pearson won it for the first time in her career. Bolt was able to defend his title successfully in the 200m category at the World Championships in Daegu, where he clocked 19.40 seconds
to make it the second fastest performance of the year. In the same category, Bolt remained undefeated this year, which included an incredible four race wins.
Bolt concluded the World Championships season in Daegu by leading a quartet of exquisite runners in the 4x100m relay, as he finished the distance in a decent time of 37.04 seconds. Bolt remained at the top of men’s 100m category and was the world leader
with time of 9.76 seconds. Bolt secured the top position in the 100m meets throughout the year, with five out of six wins.
After winning the award, Bolt said, “There were some close races this season, I really had to push myself. So this (award) really means a whole lot to me. Because I really came out there hard this year, and all the hard work I put in paid off.”
Pearson and Bolt were also entitled for prizes worth US$100,000, apart from the prestigious award. In the men’s division, Yohan Blake from Jamaica won the ‘Performance of the Year’ award with his 19.26 seconds finish at the Memorial van Damme meet in Brussels.
His effort was the second fastest performance in the history of the discipline.
Vivian Cheruiyot from Kenya won the ‘Performance of the Year’ award in the women’s division with her 5000m and 10,000m double victory at the World Championships, in Daegu.
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