Blake pips Usain Bolt for Jamaica`s top athlete award

Kingston (Jamaica): World champions Veronica Campbell-Brown and Yohan Blake were formally recognised as the toast of Jamaican track & field this year.

The two claimed the Athlete-of-the-Year awards Friday, when the Jamaica Athletics Administrative Association (JAAA) handed out the annual Golden Cleats Awards. In an ironic twist, Blake was named the top male ahead of training partner and megastar Usain Bolt, the World Male Athlete-of-the-Year. The selection panel of the JAAA felt Bolt did not do enough to beat Blake this time around. Blake won the World 100 title in Daegu, South Korea, following an astonishing false start from Bolt. The 22-year-old Blake also recorded the second fastest 200m of all-time with a time of 19.26 seconds, performances which have him now being considered as a clear and present threat to Bolt`s dominance of World sprinting over the last three years. Bolt, winner in 2008 and 2009, took the World 200 title in Daegu and had the fastest 100 time of the year of 9.76 secs. The highlights of Campbell-Brown`s season were her first ever 200 victory at a World Championships and a runner-up spot in the 100. Campbell-Brown previously won the award in 2007 and last year. IANS