Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt accepts his Athlete of the Year award Sunday in Monaco. (Lionel Cironneau/Associated Press)

Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt and Russian pole vaulter Yelena Isinbayeva won the IAAF World Athlete of the Year awards on Sunday.

Bolt set world records in the 100 metres and 200 metres at the Beijing Games in August, and his third gold medal came in Jamaica's 400 relay, also a world record. He is the first man to win the three events in one Olympics since Carl Lewis in 1984.

Isinbayeva successfully defended her Olympic title and remained undefeated in outdoor competitions in 2008.

"I have a motto that anything is possible," said Bolt, wearing a tuxedo and bow tie and accompanied by his parents at the awards ceremony in Monaco. "But this really is such an honor. Just to be included with every great name in the sport is wonderful."

Past winners include American sprinters Michael Johnson and Lewis and Moroccan middle-distance runner Hicham El-Guerrouj.

Bolt will be remembered for his signature archer-like victory pose and for running 9.69 seconds in the 100 final to break the world record mark despite easing off 15 metres from the finish line and beating his chest in joy.

By contrast, the Jamaican had to run to the line to beat Johnson's 200 mark by two hundredths of a second, crossing in 19.30.

Isinbayeva cleared 5.05 metres in Beijing to set her 24th career world record and retain the Olympic title.

"This year has been like a dream come true," said Isinbayeva, who also won the award in 2004 and 2005. "This award is the perfect way to end 2008."

Cuban hurdler Dayron Robles and Ethiopian long-distance runner Kenenisa Bekele were the other contenders in the men's category while Tirunesh Dibaba of Ethiopia and Kenyan teenager Pamela Jelimo were nominated on the women's side.

All the contenders won Olympic gold and achieved extraordinary feats: Robles broke the world record in the 110 hurdles, Jelimo collected the $1 million US Golden League jackpot, and Bekele and Dibaba remained undefeated throughout 2008.

Robles won the men's Performance of the Year award for running 12.87 to set a world record in June in Ostrava, Czech Republic.

Dibaba and Czech javelin thrower Barbora Spotakova shared the women's award.

Dibaba ran 14:11.15 to smash the world record in the 5,000 by more than five seconds in Oslo in June while Spotakova threw 72.28 metres in Stuttgart in September to improve the world mark by 58 centimetres.