Bolt and Isinbayeva World Athletes of the year

Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt and Russian pole vaulted Yelena Isinbayeva confirmed that their generation remains the sport’s driving force after earning the World Athlete of the year Awards for 2008.

• Bolt who celebrated his 22nd birthday in Beijing, and Isinbayeva, 26, have time again illustrated their ability to perform with the poise and conviction of seasoned veterans. Each ended their respective seasons with virtually untarnished records, and left Beijing as dominating Olympic champions with feats that aren’t likely to be duplicated any time soon.
• For long-time observers, neither is a new name. Both illustrated their raw talent and promise at the youth and junior levels before stamping their authority on their respective events to end the year among the most talked about athletes not only in athletics, but in the wider sporting world as well.
• Until this season, Bolt was primarily seen as a leading force in the 200m, with his promise he exhibited as both the World youth and World junior record holder in the event reaching its fruition at the World Championships in Osaka a year ago where he dashed to silver. But that conventional wisdom held true only because he hadn’t yet seriously contested the 100. That view was shattered in the early days of May in Kingston when he sped to a 9.76 performance to become the second fastest man in history in just his second 100m race of the year.
• Immediately and ferociously, there was a new kid on the block gunning for bragging rights as the World’s Fastest Man.
• For Isinbayeva, 2008 signalled a strong return to the form which brought her World Athlete of the Year honors in 2004 and 2005. While still the leading force in her event in 2006 and 2007, she patiently waited for her technical changes and coaching switch to pole vault guru Vitaly Petrov to firmly take hold. In 2008, they finally did.
• Opening her indoor campaign in her now customary manner – with a World record indoors in Donetsk, leaping 4.95m – Isinbayeva ended her indoor season collecting another World Indoor Championship title in Valencia. But nothing prepared the world for the record rampage she embarked upon in her Beijing build-up.
• It didn’t take long for her record spree to begin. In her outdoor debut, she added two centimeters to her three-year-old mark with a massive 5.03m clearance at Rome’s Golden Gala. Clearly, she showed her critics that her best was still ahead of her. Following more solid record assaults in Stockholm and London, she showed her pre-Olympic form in Monaco where he again improved her mark, this time to 5.05m.
• Her dominance continued in Beijing, where she not only defended her title, but for the second consecutive Olympic Games, took gold with a World record, this time leaping 5.05m with her dramatic final attempt. It was the 24th World record of her career.
• In all, she won each of her nine competitions outdoors, and 12 of 13 overall. And again she ended the year without peer.