Bolt, Richards up for top track awards
Last Updated: Tuesday, November 10, 2009 | 1:00 PM ET
By Chris Iorfida, CBC Sports
Jamaica's Usain Bolt celebrates after his 200 metre win at the World Athletics Final in Greece in September. (Nikolas Giakoumidis/Associated Press)Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt and American runner Sanya Richards were among the track and field greats announced as nominees for the 2009 Athlete of the Year title awarded by the International Association of Athletics Federations.
The winners will be announced on Nov. 22.
Bolt is joined in the men's category by fellow sprinter Tyson Gay of the U.S., distance great Kenenisa Bekele of Ethiopia, pole vaulter Steve Hooker of Australia and javelin champ Andreas Thorkildsen of Norway.
Richards is up for female athlete of the award along with pole vaulter Yelena Isinbayeva of Russia, shot put champion Valerie Vili of New Zealand, high jumpers Blanka Vlasic of Croatia and hammer thrower Anita Wlodarczyk of Poland.
Male athlete of the year
Bolt, who won the IAAF men's athlete of the year award last year, broke his own records in the 100-metre and 200-metre races at the Berlin world championships in August. He was clocked at 9.58 seconds in the 100 metre race, coming back four days later to blaze to a 19.19 time at the greater distance.
For good measure, he helped lead Jamaica to gold in the 4 x 100 sprint relay.
Bolt has not lost in 25 consecutive races dating back to 2007.
Bekele won double gold at the world championships. He prevailed in the 10,000 — a distance at which he has never lost — and the 5,000, extending a three-year winning streak.
The Ethiopian has twice before been IAAF athlete of the year.
Gay competed in the large shadow of Bolt but bounced back from an injury-plagued Beijing Olympics. The former 100 m world record holder ran 9.71 in the same race in which Bolt set the new standard.
Hooker followed up his Beijing gold with a win in Berlin despite a nagging injury while Thorkildsen continued his dominance in his specialty.
The Norwegian won his first world championship gold after previously winning two silvers in his career. He's also the two-time Olympic champion.
Female athlete of the year
Richards didn't lose a race after May. She won the 400 m at the world championships going away and added another gold in the 4 x 400 relay. The American also shared in the Golden League jackpot for the third time by winning all six of her races.
Isinbayeva, too, shared in the Golden League win to finish the year off strongly. She came back from not getting on the podium in Berlin by setting an outdoor pole vault record with a clearance of 5.06 metres. Earlier in the year, she set the new indoor standard.
Vili has an unbeaten streak to match Bolt, having won over 25 straight competitions. Vili won her second world championship in Berlin.
Vlasic won the world championship in high jump and also set a new personal best, while Wlodarczyk set a world record with a hammer throw of 77.96 metres to win gold in Berlin.
