Bolt
Monte Carlo:Jamaica's triple Olympic Games gold medallist, Usain Bolt, The Gleaner Man of the Year, is set to collect another illustrious award and multimillion-dollar bonus tomorrow.
Bolt, who won the 100m (9.69sec), 200m (19.30sec) and helped Jamaica to the 4x100m (37.10) title in Beijing (all in world-record times), is the overwhelming favourite for the International Association of Athletics Federations' (IAAF) Male Athlete of the Year award, which brings with it a US$100,000 (J$7.6 million) cash prize.
The World Athletics Gala, the function where the announcement will be made, will be hosted by International Athletic Foundation (IAF) honorary president, HSH Prince Albert II of Monaco, and IAF & IAAF president, Lamine Diack, at the Salle des Etoiles of the Sporting Club d'Et*, Monte Carlo.
Cuban Dayron Robles, winner of the 110m hurdles in Beijing and the record holder for the event, and Ethiopia Kenenisa Bekele, are the other athletes in contention for the male award.
Performance of Year
Bolt, who eased down 15 metres from the finishing line for his 100m victory, which was followed up by an amazing 19.30-second run, shaving off two hundredths of a second off American Michael Johnson's 12-year-old 200m mark, is also in line for the Performance of the Year award.
In this category Bolt, who also holds the World Youth (20.13) and World Junior (19.93) records over the 200m, is up against Ethiopian Haile Gebrselassie, who became the first man to break 2:04 and an improvement over the previous standard by 27 seconds in the marathon.
Ethiopia Tirunesh Dibaba, Russian Yelena Isinbayeva and Pamela Jelimo of Kenya are vying for the Female Athlete of the Year award.
Medals upgraded
Meanwhile, the medals for three Jamaica men's 1600m relay were officially upgraded yesterday.
The upgraded medals came after the IAAF decided to disregard all medals won by American Antonio Pettigrew, who earlier this year admitted taking drugs.
Pettigrew used drugs between 1997 and 2001, during which he was amember of the US 4x400m relay teams that won gold medals at two World Championships and the Sydney Olympics.
After yesterday's IAAF council meeting, the IAAF said it consulted the juridicial commission as to the disqualification of Antonio Pettigrew's individual and team results achieved since 1997.
"The council agreed that all the individual and relay results obtained by Antonio Pettigrew since 1997 should be disqualified, as his use of prohibited substance can be considered a 'continuous offence', including beyond the year 2000," the IAAF reported.
Jamaica's quartet of Michael Blackwood, Gregory Haughton, Christopher Williams and Danny McFarlane, who crossed the finish line in 2:58.78 for bronze in Sydney, behind United States (2:56.35) and Nigeria (2:56.35), have been upgraded to silver.
Stripped team
Along with Pettigrew, the United States team included Anthony Harrison, Chris Harrison and Michael Johnson in the final.
The sport's governing body tried to strip the team of their Olympic medals after Jerome Young, who was part of the team but did not run in the final, tested positive for drugs in 2004 and was banned for life.
However, the Court of Arbitration for Sport, in 2005, upheld an appeal by US athletics officials to allow the team to keep their medals.
But since Pettigrew's confession to drugs use in May at Trevor Graham's trial, he voluntarily surrendered his Sydney gold and 1997 and 1999 Worlds medals.
Johnson, who was apart of the Sydney relay team, has said he will return his Olympic relay gold medal.
Up to silver
Meanwhile, the bronze medal won at the 2001 World Championships by Jamaica's quartet of Brandon Simpson, Christopher Williams, Gregory Haughton and Danny McFarlane, has also been upgraded to silver.
Jamaica's 4x400m team at the 1997 World Championships, which had placed third, also had their medal upgraded to silver.
Michael McDonald, Haughtion, McFarlane and Davian Clarke were the runners who competed in that final.