Jamaica-born American Olympic 4x400m gold medalist Sanya Richards believes Jamaica was the big winner at the IAAF World Athlete of the Year awards ceremony. Asafa Powell was also named Male Athlete of the Year.
World 100m record holder Asafa Powell and Richards were named World Athletes of the Year by the IAAF. Both winners received US$100,000 along with trophies at the World Athletics Gala in the Salle des Etoiles of the Sporting Club d'Et, Monte Carlo.Richards said to have two Jamaican-born athletes winning the prestigious awards of male and female Athletes of the Year, was really something special.
"It's a really good feeling," said Richards who got the nod over another Jamaican, Sherone Simpson, and Ethiopian distance runner Meseret Defar, the Olympic champion in 5,000 metres. Simpson holds the year's best times for 100m and 200m.
Proud of heritage
"I think that Jamaica is such a small country, but in track & field we have produced great athletes, and it's something that the whole world gets a chance to see when Asafa and I get to head the stage like this," added the woman, who broke the 23-year-old American 400m record of 48.83 seconds by running 48.70 in her last outing in September.
"I am excited to be a part of it, I never forget my Jamaican heritage, and I never discard it," she said while making it clear she visits Jamaica often.
Richards, who attended Vaz Prep and Immaculate Conception High, said after seeing Russian Yelena Isinbayeva taking the crown for the past two years, she had some doubts about winning it.
"To have done it, and to be sharing the stage with Asafa Powell, who I think is not only a great athlete, but a great person, is just an amazing accomplishment for me, " she added.
Meanwhile, Powell twice equalled his world record 9.77 seconds in the 100 metres. During the year he went under 10 seconds for the 100m, a record 12 times.
"It's a great feeling," was how the soft-spoken sprinter described his achievement.
"To accomplish this shows that people have recognised what I have done," added the man who first set the world record in June 2005 in Athens, Greece, but then equalled it on June 11 at the British Grand Prix in Gateshead, England, and again on August 18 at the Weltklasse in Zurich, Switzerland.
More of a motivation
Powell who defeated the challenge of Lithuanian discus thrower Virgilijus Alekna - the two-time world and Olympic champion - and hurdler Liu Xiang of China, said this award means a lot for Jamaica.
"I's more motivation for me to come back better next year," he pointed out.
IAAF president Lamine Diack congratulated both winners. "You both fully desereve your honours after dominating your events all season, but most importantly, you are both in your early 20s and have personalities and educational background to serve as role models to young people all over the world," he told the winners.
Simpson was also beaten for the Performance of the year award, which went to Meseret Defar for breaking the 5000m world record in New York City.
The men's top performance went to Liu Xiang of China for his world record 12.88 over 110m hurdles at the IAAF Super Grand Prix in Lausanne.
