South African high-jumper Hestrie Cloete and Morocco’s four-time world 1 500m champion Hicham El Guerrouj won the Athletes of the Year titles after this weekend’s World Athletics Final in Monaco.
Cloete, who jumped 2,01m to win on Saturday and cap a brilliantly consistent season, is the first African woman to be named Athlete of the Year and picks up a cheque for $100 000.
El Guerrouj did not even compete here after complaining of tiredness, but the Moroccan had amassed enough points over the season to receive the men’s award for the third consecutive year.
Controversial American sprinter Kelli White, the only athlete who could overtake Cloete in the standings, faded to fourth in the 100m as Chryste Gaines ran the fastest time of her life to win with ease.
Gaines, who was not selected in the United States team for last month’s world championships in Paris, showed what might have been as she left the field for dead to cross the line in 10,86 seconds with White appearing to shut down with 30m to go and only managing 11,08 seconds.
”This has been my best year ever,” said Gaines. ”It’s such a shame I was injured for the US trials. But my performances have given me a whole lot of confidence for the Athens Olympics.”
White now has an anxious wait while the US Anti-Doping Agency decides whether she should be stripped of her 100m and 200m world titles after testing positive for a stimulant during the world championships.
The men’s race of the day was the 3 000m steeplechase in which the adopted Qatari Saif Saeed Shaheen beat his former Kenyan teammate Paul Koech with a dip finish on the line.
It was virtually a rerun of the world championships final, when Shaheen did the same thing to pip another Kenyan, Ezekiel Kemboi, to the gold medal.
Shaheen would have needed to run a new world record of 7 minutes, 54,49 seconds to overtake El Guerrouj in the world rankings and take the $100 000, but his time of 7:57.38 was an Asian record. His final points total of 1 448 came up just short of El Guerrouj’s 1 450.
Eunice Barber, just as in Paris, grabbed victory in the long jump with her final attempt, a new French record of 7,05m.
Gail Devers failed to even make the 100m hurdles world championships final, but she won here with a world-leading 12,45 seconds and then announced she was considering retirement.
”I still do not know if I will come back next year,” said the woman who won Olympic titles over 100m flat in 1992 and 1996.
Mozambique’s Maria Mutola, who won the million-dollar Golden League jackpot earlier this month, notched up her 18th straight victory over 800m. — Sapa-AFP