Along with the World Athlete of the Year award the announcement of the 2008 Performance of the Year for men and women in athletics will also take place at the 2008 IAAF World Athletics Gala in Monaco on the 23rd of November.
Top Class Jamaican Performances
Usain Bolt (JAM) 9.69/100m Beijing 16 August
A World record – set while easing off 15 metres from the finish line – to win the Olympic 100m final with the equal biggest winning margin
Usain Bolt (JAM) 19.30/200m Beijing 20 August
A World record to win the Olympic 200m final, an improvement of 2 hundredths of a second on Michael Johnson’s historical World record set 12 years ago at the Atlanta Olympic Games
Jamaica’s 4x100m Relay Team 37.10/4x100m Beijing 22 August
A World record to win the Olympic 4x100m title and an improvement over the previous standard by 3 tenths of a second by the team of Nesta Carter, Michael Frater, Usain Bolt and Asafa Powell
Veronica Campbell-Brown (JAM) 21.74/200m Beijing 21 August
The fastest time in 10 years to defend the 200m Olympic title and a rise to 10th on the all-time performers list
Shelly-Ann Fraser (JAM) 10.78/100m Beijing 17 August
The fastest time of the year to win the Olympic 100m final and a rise to equal ninth on the all-time performers list
Melaine Walker (JAM) 52.64/400m Hurdles Beijing 20 August
The fourth fastest of all time to win the Olympic 400m Hurdles final and the fastest time in 5 years
World Athletes of the Year Finalists
Unfortunately Veronica Campbell-Brown and Melaine Walker were not chosen to be finalists for the female world athlete of the year award despite being favorites in public voting. However Usain Bolt is a finalist amongst the men and remain the contender most likely to walk away with the award in less than two weeks.