Bolt to return from Monaco
Published:Monday | November 24, 2008 | 12:55 PM
Jamaica’s triple Olympic medallist Usain Bolt is scheduled to arrive in the country tonight after winning the International Association of Athletics Federations’ World Athlete of the Year award yesterday in Monte Carlo, Monaco.
The 22 year old Bolt thrilled the world, when he captured three gold medals, all in record times, at this year’s Olympic Games in the Chinese capital of Beijing.
Bolt clocked 9.69 seconds to win the 100-metre dash and 19.30 to take the 200 metres. He ran the third leg on Jamaica’s sprint relay team to help set a world record of 37.10 seconds.
He became the first man to win three major sprinting events at a single Olympics since Carl Lewis 12 years ago.
He also became the first man in history to set World records in three races at a single Olympics.
Bolt’s two individual world records at the Olympic were also nominated for the Male Performance-of-the-Year, but surprisingly, Cuba’s Dayron Robles topped him for this award.
Robles won the award for running 12.87 to set a world record in June in Ostrava, Czech Republic.
Russian pole-vaulter Yelena Isinbayeva won the women’s award after she successfully defended her Olympic title and was undefeated in outdoor competitions in 2008.