Rudisha wins performance of the year award as Bolt best athlete

BARCELONA

Olympic legend Peter Snell on Saturday presented the 2012 IAAF Performance of the Year Award to Kenya’s Olympic gold medallist David Rudisha as sprinters Usain Bolt and Allyson Felix were named the world athletes of the year at a lunch-time awards ceremony in Barcelona’s five-star Skipper Pullman Hotel.

Rudisha caught the eye of global judges thanks to his world record of one minute, 40.91 seconds in the 800 metres on the way to winning the London Olympics gold medal.

“It’s a great honour – I was in good shape and I wanted to do something special at the Olympics. It was difficult without a pacemaker and I was looking at 1:41 but to run 1:40 and a world record was special,” Rudisha said after receiving his award from New Zealand’s Snell, who won 800m gold medals at the Olympics in 1960 and 1964 also taking another gold in the 1,500m in the 1964 Games and holding world record in the 800m and the mile.

The awards’ master of ceremonies was retired Trinidadian sprinter, Ato Bolton, with the event televised live worldwide.

Bolt, who won the award for the fourth time, and Felix, a first-time winner, received their trophies and $100,000 (Sh8.5 million) prize in the Grand Ballroom of the Pullman Skipper Hotel, ahead of last evening’s IAAF Centenary Gala Show in the MNAC Museum.

The awards were hosted by International Athletic Foundation (IAF) Honorary Presiden, Prince Albert II of Monaco, and IAF and IAAF President Lamine Diack, who presented the trophies to the female and male winners respectively.

Usain Bolt, 26, the World Athlete of the Year in 2008, 2009 and 2011, successfully defended both his 100m and 200m titles at the Olympic Games in London, clocking 9.63 and 19.32 respectively, both the fastest times in the World this year.

He concluded his Olympic appearance by anchoring a Jamaican quartet to a 36.84 World record in the 4x100m Relay. He won six out of seven competitions in the 100m, and three of four in the 200m.

“It was a special year for me and I would like to thank my coach Glenn Mills and my fans,” Bolt said.

Felix, 27, following World 200m titles in 2005, 2007 and 2009, won the Olympic 200m title in London and was part of the gold medal-winning 4x100m and 4x400m relay teams to become the first woman since 1988 to win three gold medals at a single Olympic Games.

The victorious 4x100m Relay quartet in London clocked a 40.82 world record.

Felix’s 21.69 victory in the 200m at the U.S. Olympic Trials was the fastest in the world this year and made Felix the fourth fastest woman in history.

Ups and downs

“It is a great honour…my career has seen a lot of ups and downs and I would be lying if I said it was smooth… nine years ago I was in Monaco for the IAAF Gala and was given an award, along with Usain, for the upcoming athlete of the year. I did not know I would have been here today on this journey,” said Felix.

Several Kenyan athletes and officials have been invited to the weekend IAAF Gala and Centenary celebrations including Olympic steeplechase champion Ezekiel Kemboi, multiple world junior champion Faith Chepng’etich and five times (each) world cross country champions Paul Tergat and John Ngugi.

Athletics Kenya officials Isaiah Kiplagat (chairman), Joseph Kinyua (treasurer) and David Okeyo (secretary) were also in attendance, along with veteran technical official John Velzian.