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Lead Stories: Monday, December 1, 2008

Bolt, Isinbayeva Named 2008 IAAF Athletes of the Year

Posted November 24th, 2008 at 9:27 AM by Bob Ramsak

Section: News & Results, Track & Field

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 4×100m 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.
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Industry and Events News Wrap-Up

Posted November 19th, 2008 at 12:00 PM by David Monti

Section: News & Results, Marathons, Track & Field, Olympics, Road Racing

CLAY, BROWN TRAFTON WIN 2008 JESSE OWENS AWARDS:
Olympic gold medalists Bryan Clay (decathlon) and Stephanie Brown Trafton (discus) on Tuesday were named winners of the 2008 Jesse Owens Award by USA Track & Field. Established in 1981, the Jesse Owens Award is USA Track & Field’s highest accolade, presented annually to the outstanding U.S. male and female track and field performers. Clay was the favorite to win Olympic gold, while Brown Trafton’s medal was one of the biggest surprises in Beijing. “All of us at USA Track & Field take great pride in saluting Bryan and Stephanie for their accomplishments during the 2008 season,” said USATF CEO Doug Logan.

IAAF WORLD ATHLETICS GALA TO BE STREAMED
LIVE ON IAAF.ORG:
For the first time in the history of the annual World Athletics Gala, the show will be shown via a video stream on the IAAF website, as well as the live worldwide TV broadcast. The event, which includes the announcements of the Male and the Female World Athlete of the Year 2008, will be hosted on Sunday 23 November at the Salle des Etoiles of the Sporting Club d’Eté, Monte-Carlo by International Athletic Foundation (IAF) Honorary President HSH Prince Albert II of Monaco and IAF & IAAF President Lamine Diack. More details available at IAAF.org.
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America’s Tyson Gay Named Male Athlete of the Year

Posted November 27th, 2007 at 8:00 AM by Jamal Walker

Section: News & Results, Track & Field

Three-time World Outdoor champion and 2007 Jesse Owens Award winner Tyson Gay was named the Male World Athlete of the Year at the World Athletics Gala in Monte Carlo over the weekend.

Gay had an historic year in 2007, sweeping the 100 and 200 meters at both the IAAF World Outdoor Championships in Osaka and the USA Outdoor Championships. He added World Outdoor gold in the 4×100m to become the fourth man in World Championships history to win three gold medals at a single championship.
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Defar, Gay Named World Athletes of the Year

Posted November 26th, 2007 at 2:00 PM by Bob Ramsak

Section: News & Results, Marathons, Track & Field

Meseret Defar and sprinter Tyson Gay were named the World Athletes of the Year for 2007 at the World Athletics Gala held in Monte Carlo last night.

Defar, 24, shattered her won world record in the 5000 meters, running 14:16.63 in Oslo in June, breaking her own previous standard by more than eight seconds. The reigning Olympic 50000 champion, Defar also won the event at the world championships and twice lowered the world best for 2 miles. She also set a world record indoors in the 3000, running 8:23.72 in Stuttgart in February.

“I don’t have word to describe how happy I am,” said Defar, who dedicated the award to women athletes in Ethiopia. Haile Gebrselassie and Kenenisa Bekele have earned the honor in the past, but Defar became the first Ethiopian to win the world governing body’s annual award.

Gay, 25, won three gold medals at the IAAF World Championships in Osaka last August, sweeping the 100 and 200 metres and running the third leg on the victorious 4×100m relay. In the 100, Gay clocked 9.85, relegating world record holder Asafa Powell of Jamaica to third. In the 200, he clocked 19.76, taking down Michael Johnson’s meet record. He was just the fourth athlete to collect three gold medals at a single world championships.
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Gebrselassie, Defar Short-Listed for World Athletes of the Year

Posted November 16th, 2007 at 7:00 AM by Bob Ramsak

Section: News & Results, Marathons, Track & Field

Haile Gebrselassie and Meseret Defar are among the three men’s and women’s finalist for World Athlete of the Year, the IAAF announced last week.

The 34-year-old Gebrselassie lowered the world record in the marathon to 2:04:26, pending ratification, at the real,-Berlin Marathon in September, and earlier in the year, set world records for the one hour run on the track, and for 20,000m en route.

Defar, 23, produced yet another astonishing season. After a world record indoors over 3000m, the Ethiopian broke her own world record in the 5000m at the Golden League kick-off in Oslo in June, won the world title in the 5000m in August, and capped her season with a world best for 2 miles in Brussels.
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Powell, Richards named “Athletes of the Year”; Xiang, Defar win top performance honors

Posted November 12th, 2006 at 2:06 PM by Hariz Siddiqui

Section: News & Results, Track & Field

Asafa Powell (JAM) and Sanya Richards (USA) were awarded the prestigious “Athlete of the Year” awards. The runners received the award at today’s World Athletics Gala in Monte Carlo, Monaco. Along with the honor and the impressive trophy, Powell and Richards both received a $100,000 prize.

Both Powell and Richards finished number one in the world rankings. In 2006, Powell ran a record-setting 12 100m races in less than 10-seconds and twice matched his own world record time of 9.77 seconds. Richards ran to 15 straight 400m wins in 2006. This included breaking the 22-year old American record by running the 400m in 48.70 seconds. Richards, the University of Texas standout, famously dating cornerback Aaron Ross, another elite Longhorn athlete and the man many call the top defensive player in college football. Read the rest of this entry »

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“Performance of the Year” finalists include Wariner and Xiang

Posted November 11th, 2006 at 7:00 AM by Jeanie Rebb

Section: News & Results, Track & Field

The Special Jury of the International Athletic Foundation will finally reveal the male and female “Performance of the Year” winners. The announcement will be made tonight, November 12, 2006 at the 2006 World Athletics Gala. The event will take place in the Salle des Etoiles of the Sporting Club d’Eté, Monte-Carlo

According to the IAAF, the six finalists (3 men and 3 women) for the award are as follows:

Men:

• Jeremy Wariner (USA) for running 43.62 at the IAAF Golden League meeting in Rome, the best time since Michael Johnson’s World record in 1999, so becoming the fourth fastest of all time
• Liu Xiang (CHN) for running 12.88 at the IAAF Super Grand Prix in Lausanne to become the outright holder of the 110m Hurdles World record

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World Athletics Gala in Monaco on November 12, 2006

Posted October 28th, 2006 at 4:00 PM by Jeanie Rebb

Section: News & Results, Announcements, Track & Field

PRESS RELEASE: The 2006 World Athletics Gala in Monaco on 12 November, the prestigious annual global awards night for athletics, as well as the crowning of the 2006 World Athlete of the Year (Man and Woman), will witness the announcement of the 2006 Performance of the Year (Man and Woman) live on stage.

The nominees for the 2006 Performance of the Year have been selected by a panel of IAAF experts, and the winners will be decided solely by a Special Jury of the International Athletic Foundation.

The short list is as follows: Read the rest of this entry »

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