Bolt, Thompson lead nominees for Jamaica’s male and female Athlete-of-the-Year
Elaine Thompson and Usain Bolt
Elaine Thompson and Usain Bolt

 

USAIN Bolt and Elaine Thompson lead the list of nominees for the RJR Sports Foundation Athlete-of-the-Year Awards announced Thursday during its launch at the Jamaica Pegasus in Kingston.The awards will be held at the hotel on Friday, January 13, 2017.
Bolt is one of three male nominees. The 30-year-old track and field icon became the first sprinter in history to win the 100m, 200m and sprint relay at three consecutive Olympic Games at the Games in Rio in August.
Also nominated is 110m hurdles OIympic champion Omar McLeod, who became the first Jamaican male to win the sprint hurdles gold at an Olympic Games. The 22-year-old student at the University of Arkansas, also won the World Indoor Championships in Oregon in February.
McLeod was also the only sprinter hurdler to go below 13 seconds during the year in which he also became the first sprinter hurdler to break 13 seconds and 10 seconds in the 100m.
The third and final male nominee is batsman Marlon Samuels, who was the hero of the ICC T20 World Cup Final in India. Samuels scored an unbeaten 85 off just 66 balls to help the West Indies to a four-wicket win over England as the West Indies became the first team ever to win the T20 World Cup twice.
Samuels was also named West Indies One Day Player-of-the-Year.
Thompson, who won both the 100m and 200m at the Olympics in Rio, leads the five female nominees that included three Olympians, one female cricketer and a swimmer.
Thompson became the first woman in 28 years to win the sprint double at the Olympic Games. She was also the Diamond winner and had the fastest times in both the 100m and 200m for 2016. Her personal best of 10.70 tied the national record held by Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce.
Also among the list of nominees is Olympic 400m bronze medallist Shericka Jackson, who also set a personal-best time of 49.83s in the semi-finals. She was also a key member of Jamaica’s team that won the silver medal in the women’s mile relay.
Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, who overcame injury-plagued season to win bronze behind Thompson in the 100m in Rio, is also among the nominees.
Fraser-Pryce who ran a season-best 10.86 in the final in Rio, also anchored the women’s sprint relay team to a silver medal.

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