24 Nov 2008

Bolt and Isinbayeva take top awards

10:10 am on 24 November 2008

Olympic champions Usain Bolt of Jamaica and Yelena Isinbayeva of Russia have been named 2008 World Athletes of the Year.

22 year old Bolt captured three gold medals at the Olympic Games in Beijing in August, sweeping the 100 and 200 metres and running the third leg on the victorious 4 by 100 relay... all in world record time.

Isinbayeva raised her own world record in the pole vault three times, her last in winning gold in Beijing.

Olympic 110 metres hurdles champion Dayron Robles of Cuba, who broke the world record in his event with a 12.87 seconds run in June, won the men's performance of the year award.

Kenyan teenager Pamela Jelimo, who rose from obscurity to finish the season unbeaten in the 800 metres, won the Revelation of the Year award. Jelimo, who captured Olympic gold and the million dollar IAAF Jackpot, only took up the event last April.