Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt and Russian pole vaulter Yelena Isinbayeva won the IAAF World Athlete of the Year awards on Sunday. Bolt set world records in the 100 and 200 meters at the Beijing Games in August, and his third gold medal came in Jamaica's 400m relay, also a world record. He is the first man to win the three Olympic events in a single games since Carl Lewis in 1984. Isinbayeva successfully defended her Olympic title and remained undefeated in outdoor competitions in 2008. “I have a motto that anything is possible,” said Bolt, wearing a tuxedo and bow tie and accompanied by his parents at the ceremony. “But this really is such an honor. Just to be included with every great name in the sport is wonderful.” American sprinters Michael Johnson and Lewis and Moroccan middle-distance runner Hicham El-Guerrouj are among the past winners. Bolt will be remembered for his archer-like signature victory pose, and for running 9.69 seconds in the 100 final to break the world record mark despite easing off 15 meters from the finish line and beating his chest in joy. By contrast, the Jamaican had to run to the line to beat Johnson's 200 mark by two hundredths of a second, crossing in 19.30. Isinbayeva cleared 5.05 meters (16 feet, 6-3/4 inches) in Beijing to set her 24th career world record and retain the Olympic title. “This year has been like a dream come true,” said Isinbayeva, who also won the award in 2004 and 2005. “This award is the perfect way to end 2008.” Bolt earlier claimed that his astonishing feats were just down to hard work and not natural talent. He admitted that it had needed hard work for him to arrive at this point after he was injured in the 2004 Olympics. “When I was injured in 2004, that was all part of the risks in sport,” said Bolt. “I did reflect that recovering would take a long time and that my career was perhaps over at the age of just 18. But fortunately we discovered what the problem was (muscular weakness) and we began to work on it from then on with my coach. “It's imperative to work hard, to have a strategy, and to target the objectives.” Cuban hurdler Dayron Robles and Ethiopian long-distance runner Kenenisa Bekele were the other contenders in the men's category, while Tirunesh Dibaba of Ethiopia and Kenyan teenager Pamela Jelimo were nominated on the women's side. All the contenders won Olympic gold and achieved extraordinary feats: Robles broke the world record in the 110m hurdles, Jelimo collected the $1 million Golden League jackpot, and Bekele and Dibaba remained undefeated throughout 2008. Robles won the men's Performance of the Year award for running 12.87 to set a world record in June in Ostrava, Czech Republic. Dibaba and Czech javelin thrower Barbora Spotakova shared the women's award. Dibaba ran 14:11.15 to smash the world record in the 5,000m by more than five seconds in Oslo in June, while Spotakova threw 72.28 meters in Stuttgart in September to improve the world mark by 58 centimeters. Kibet wins Milan marathon Kenya's Duncan Kibet Kirong won the Milan marathon on Sunday in a course record two hours seven minutes 53 seconds. Kibet controlled the final stages with apparent ease to finish 46 seconds ahead of his compatriot Elias Kemboi Chelimo in windy conditions. Leonard Mucheru Maina finished third to complete a Kenyan clean sweep with a time of 2:10:05. Italy's Anna Incerti repelled the challenge of last year's winner Pamela Chepchumba, another Kenyan, to win the women's race in 2:27:42. – APIAAF World Athletics Awards Male World Athlete of the Year Usain Bolt (JAM) Female World Athlete of the Year Yelena Isinbayeva (RUS) Male Performance of the Year Dayron Robles (CUB) Female Performance of the Year Tirunesh Dibaba (ETH) Barbora Spotakova (CZE) Revelation of the year Award Pamela Jelimo (KEN) Distinguished Career Award Kajsa Bergqvist (SWE) Stefan Holm (SWE) Jefferson Perez (ECU) Inspirational Award Henry Rono (KEN) 80 Years of Women Athletes at the Olympic Games Jackie Joyner-Kersee (USA) Special Olympic Award Usain Bolt (JAM) Tirunesh Dibaba (ETH) Yelena Isinbayeva (RUS) Francoise Mbango (CMR) Angelo Taylor (USA) Andreas Thorkildsen (NOR) __
