Asafa Powell, Sanya Richards, Meseret Defar and Liu Xiang scooped the top awards as the IAAF announced its honours for 2006.
Asafa Powell of Jamaica was proclaimed the Male World Athlete Of The Year after running a world record equalling 9.77sec over 100m on two occasions and posting a host of other sub 10sec clockings. He ran 9.77sec in Gateshead in June and then in August at the Zurich Grand Prix.
On the women’s side Sanya Richards was honoured as she broke the 22-year-old US 400m record that had been held by Valerie Brisco since the 1984 Olympics. Richards’ run of 48.70 at the World Cup in September took over a tenth of a second off the old US record.
The two get $100,000 to go with the honours.
Other nominations for the awards were Lithuanian discus thrower Virgilijus Alekna and 110m hurdler Liu Xiang of China on the men’s side. On the women’s side Jamaican sprinter Sherone Simpson and Ethiopian distance runner Meseret Defar were also nominated.
It was Liu and Defar who won the Performance Of The Year Awards. Liu broke the 110m hurdles world record with 12.88sec in the Super Grand Prix in Lausanne in July. Defar also ran a world record, her 14min 24.53sec for 5K was recorded at the Reebok Grand Prix in New York in June.
