Posted: September 20, 2004

Athletics: Bekele, Isinbayeva Named Iaaf Athletes Of The Year

From David Monti

(c) 2004 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved RaceResultsWeekly.com

By Bob Ramsak

MONTE CARLO, MON -- Olympic 10,000 meter champion Kenenisa Bekele and Olympic pole vault champion Yelena Isinbayeva were named the Athletes of the Year for 2004 by the IAAF, the sport's international governing body tonight at the World Athletics Gala at Monte Carlo's Grimaldo Forum.

Bekele, the young Ethiopian who assumed the distance running mantle from compatriot Haile Gebrselassie, won the gold in the 10,000 meters in Athens and was second in the 5000 meters, just two months after setting world records at both distances. In March, Bekele claimed his third consecutive double world cross championship, just a month after setting a world indoor record in the 5000 meters.

For the women, Isinbayeva set eight world records in the pole vault, won the world indoor title as well as the Olympic gold in the event. Underscoring her ability to perform when it counts most, she raised the world record at both competitions.

Keeping in tune with the 'new generation' theme that emerged from last month's Olympic Games, both Bekele and Isinbayeva are just 22 years old.

"I'm very young and to win this prize, is very special at this age," said Bekele. "I hope that in the future, I can do it again."

“It was a totally crazy season for me, because I won all the great competitions, and had all the World records," said the ever-smiling Isinbayeva.

When asked how she plans to spend her numerous world record bonuses, Isinbayeva recited a short list.

"The first thing I'm going to buy is a Mercedes SLK, which I drove once, and which I liked. Because I drove it once and went 220 kilometres. I like the speed. The second thing is a flat, and the third thing is that I'm going to pay a percentage to my manager and my coach."

Morrocan Hicham El Guerrouj and Kelly Holmes of Great Britain received awards for the Performance of the Year for their historic Olympic double wins. El Guerrouj captured the 1500 and 5000, Holmes the 800 and 1500.

The top honors were decided first from a public poll via the IAAF website. A panel of the International Athletics Foundation then chose the winners from a list of five finalists.

Last year, the top honorees received a US$ 100,000 prize. No financial award was given this year.