Olympic champions Usain Bolt and Jessica Ennis headline the winners of the 2013 Laureus World Sports Awards named at a globally televised Awards Ceremony in Rio de Janeiro today. Bolt was acclaimed Laureus World Sportsman of the Year after his remarkable performance at the Olympics when he repeated his success in Beijing by winning gold medals in all three sprint events in London – 100 metres, 200 metres and 4 x 100 metres relay. Laureus World Sportsman of the Year: Usain Bolt Laureus World Sportswoman of the Year: Jessica Ennis Laureus World Team of the Year: European Ryder Cup Team Laureus World Breakthrough of the Year: Andy Murray Laureus World Comeback of the Year: Felix Sanchez Laureus World Action Sportsperson of the Year: Felix Baumgartner The Laureus World Sportswoman of the Year Award went to Ennis, who carried the hopes of the British nation in London. Despite the enormous pressure of being one of the first on the track, she dominated the heptathlon and won the gold medal with a British record score of 6,955 pts. British tennis star Andy Murray’s first ever Grand Slam victory, at the US Open, plus an Olympic gold and silver medal in the singles […]
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As has become the norm, ultra-exclusive watchmaker Richard Mille again goes over-the-top with his 2013 pieces. The words “innovate” and “push the boundaries” mean far more to this man than any other watchmaker I know. Starting here with the wild RM 59-01 ‘Yohan Blake’ edition. You all know Yohan Blake, right? He is the young Jamaican sprinter, known as “The Beast”. He currently runs second behind fellow countryman and super star Usain Bolt, but rarely anyone else. Blake signed with Mille at the time of the 2013 Olympics and soon found himself at the center of a sponsorship controversy as he was quietly wearing a not-so-quiet (bright yellow and green) Richard Mille on his wrist during Olympic competition. But in the end all ended well for young Yohan, and now he has a new piece to his name, the RM 59-01 tourbillon. A limited edition of 50 pieces, of which one will sell for a cool $620,000. This watch does not fail to catch the eye, and of course it will run like the wind. Lots of high-res, and det’s, on the jump. As with all Richard Mille athlete-ambassador pieces, this watch is custom-designed for the sport in mind — […]
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The world’s greatest sports star will run at the Bislett Stadium for the third year in a row. Usain Bolt will return to Oslo, Norway and the ExxonMobil Bislett Games on Thursday 13 June 2013 where he will be competing in the 200metres. The meeting in Oslo is the sixth of the 14 meets in the world athletics series, the Samsung Diamond League. “I am looking forward to come back to Oslo and the ExxonMobil Bislett Games this summer. I have many good memories from this great city and from the Bislett Stadium. I was really happy with the time of 9.79 in the 100metres last year – it was a new stadium record. I will run the 200m this year and look forward to competing in front of passionate and knowledgeable athletics fans,” said Usain Bolt. Bolt ran the 200metres at Bislett in 2011 in 19.87 seconds, which is only a few hundreds of a second behind the current stadium record of 19.82, set back in 1996 by Namibian Frankie Fredericks. Preparations for the World Championship “This aim for 2013 is the IAAF World T&F Championships in Moscow in August. My goal is to win three gold medals and repeat […]
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As widely anticipated, Usain Bolt and Shelly-Ann Fraser Pryce were named the RJR Sports Foundation’s Sportsman and Sportswoman of the Year at the awards ceremony at the Jamaica Pegasus hotel on Friday night. Bolt, who became the first man to successfully defend both sprint titles at the London Olympic Games, took the male award ahead of club-mate Yohan Blake, who was also the runner up to Bolt in both the 100 and 200 metres in London. It’s the fourth time Bolt was winning the prestigious award. Fraser Pryce who also defended the 100 metre title in London walked away with the top female award, ahead of swimmer Alia Atkinson, who placed fourth in the 100 metre breaststroke final. Atkinson also collected the People’s Choice award for her performance in the swim off to qualify for the final in London. The Chairman’s Award went to Paralympics competitor Alphanso Cunningham who also landed gold in the men’s F52/53 Javelin in London. The Sagicor Icon award was won by world renowned track and field coach Glen Mills. Cricket legend Michael Holding was guest speaker at the awards ceremony. Swimmer Alia Atkinson on Friday evening won the RJR Sports Foundation People’s Choice Performance of […]
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Minister without portfolio in the Office of the Prime Minister with responsibility for sports, Natalie Neita-Headley, is hoping a precedent will be established with the offering of monetary tokens to all the athletes who represented the country at the 2012 Olympics and Paralympics. Forty-seven athletes formed the Olympic team which amassed 12 medals – four gold, four silver and four bronze – the most in the country’s history, while the three-member Paralympic team captured one gold medal. Usain Bolt is set to have the biggest payday, having won gold in the 100m and 200m, as $1 million will be awarded to each individual gold medal winner. The other $1-million recipients will be Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, who captured the women’s 100m, and Alphanso Cunningham, who won gold in the men’s javelin F52/F53 at the Paralympics. There will be a pool of funds to be divided among the six members of the various relay teams, with other awards for Olympic and world records still being developed at a committee level. CREATING PRECEDENT “What I am doing now is creating a precedent going forward because 2016, I am not expecting that we are going to yield less. I am expecting that we are going […]
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COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — Jamaican Olympic champion Usain Bolt is among those joining a group of U.S. track and field athletes fighting a rule that bars Olympians from using their names or likenesses for advertising during the Games. The Track and Field Athletes Association, which includes high-profile American runners such as Sanya Richards-Ross and Bernard Lagat, announced Friday it had added international athletes. The athletes are opposed to Rule 40, an International Olympic Committee rule that prohibits Olympic athletes from advertising in the days leading up to and during the Games. In welcoming Bolt, Yohan Blake, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, 800-meter world record holder David Rudisha and 19 others from around the world, TFAA president Khadevis Robinson said, “in order to grow our sport, we must establish a unified voice across the international community of athletes.” Asked about the issue at the U.S. Olympic Committee assembly Friday, CEO Scott Blackmun said he was sympathetic to what the athletes are trying to do. “We’d like to find ways for the athletes to benefit from their success at the Olympic Games,” Blackmun said. “We also understand there’s a critical need to protect the exclusivity” of the Olympic brand. Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press
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Until Usain Bolt, Yohan Blake and Asafa Powell rattled off fast early season times in the 100 metres, the hottest men’s event for Jamaica was the discus. Jason Morgan had extended his national record from 64.11 metres to 65.61 and latterly to 67.15. Almost in response, reigning national champion Traves Smikle came within 9 centimetres of the old mark with a personal best of 64.02 metres. At this year’s Nationals, Smikle came oh-so close with a big winning throw of 67.12. Those marks got Jason and Traves past the Olympic ‘A’ qualifying standards respectively. For the first time in our long and glorious track and field history, Jamaica had two throwers in an Olympic throwing event. Our love affair with sprinting means that those numbers don’t ring a bell to most. The odds are really long on Morgan being recognized in Jamaica by all but the hardiest track and field aficiandos. Yet the 67.15 placed the faceless Jamaican at seventh on the 2012 discus performance list at the time. That’s a fine achievement. His new found world class status hasn’t come easily. Once a winner at Boys Champs for Calabar, he has combined throwing with regular day jobs […]
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Racers Track Club president and head coach Glen Mills yesterday told The Gleaner that he will now lead the club’s 400m programme, and thanked Bertland Cameron for his contribution at the University of West Indies-based outfit, after the former senior 400m coach handed in his resignation on Tuesday. Cameron, a former World Championships 400m gold medallist, yesterday announced that he had brought his two-year tenure at Racers to an end and that he was now exploring other options, with all indications pointing to the creation of his own programme. But did Cameron pre-empt his fate? Mills would not speak on the matter, but information reaching The Gleaner is that Cameron’s departure from the club was always on the cards, and that the organisation’s directors were expected to show him the door at a meeting next week, after relations reportedly deteriorated between himself, some athletes and members of the club’s hierarchy. However, Mills focused instead on underlining his gratitude for Cameron’s contribution to the club and noted that he will now manage the club’s 400m programme in his absence Cameron was responsible for the development of athletes such as national 400m record holder Jermaine Gonzales, but Mills, who is most […]
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Harlis Meadersleft a sizeable void on the Florida State track & field staff when, after 18 seasons as the Seminoles’ throws coach – the last eight as associate head coach – he returned to his alma mater, the University of North Carolina, as the head coach. Florida State head coach Bob Braman’s search for a replacement led him directly to a man of sizeable stature and a passion to help his alma mater return to the top of the podium at the NCAA Championship meet. Dorian Scott, a 2007 Florida State graduate who was mentored by Meaders, has taken the reins as the Seminoles’ throws coach. A two-time Olympian representing Jamaica in the shot put, and a former All-American for the Seminoles, Scott jumped at the chance to return to Tallahassee after one season as the throws coach at San Diego State. His appointment came just a month after becoming the first Jamaican thrower to reach the Olympic finals in the shot put, finishing 10th at the London Games. “It’s extremely exciting, just at the level we’re at – going after national [championships] on both men’s and women’s side,” Scott said. “Not knocking San Diego State, but I was […]
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Bolt will run 100m at trials … But Olympic champion says JAAA will have to decide on 200m pick Usain Wild-card issue partially solvedBolt has given the selection committee of the Jamaica Athletics Administrative Association (JAAA) one less problem to worry about, as he has disclosed that he intends to compete in the 100 metres at the National Trials to select Jamaica’s team to next summer’s World Championships to be staged in Moscow, Russia. By virtue of the decision taken by the IAAF Council at its last general assembly in November last year, the overall event winner of the 32 Diamond League events will be granted automatic entry to the World Championships, in the same manner that the defending world champions profit. With Bolt emerging as the overall 100m champion of the recently concluded Diamond League series he, along with defending 100m world champion Yohan Blake, qualified for a bye to the World Championships. Each country is allowed a maximum of four entries in any one event at the World Championships, and so in cases where the defending champion and Diamond League winner are from the same country, only one will be allowed to participate as a wild-card entry, […]
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