Dayron Robles of Cuba dips under 13 seconds to win Olympic sprint hurdles gold (© Getty Images)
CarloFollowing the poll of the IAAF Family and the votes of the Internet fans, the IAAF has selected the three male and three female finalists who are still in the running to become the 2008 World Athlete of the Year.
Finalists are: (in alphabetical order)
Men
Kenenisa Bekele ETH
Usain Bolt JAM
Dayron Robles CUB
Women
Tirunesh Dibaba ETH
Yelena Isinbayeva RUS
Pamela Jelimo KEN
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21-year-old Dayron Robles is the current 110m Hurdles Olympic champion and World record holder. In 2008 the Cuban also set an Area record and has run the second fastest of all-time at 60m Hurdles.
Dayron Robles’ credentials
o Has won the 110m Hurdles Olympic title with a winning margin of 0.24
o Has set a World record 12.87 in Ostrava
o Has run a record 7 times under 13 seconds this season including twice under 12.90
o Has run 5 times under 7.40 at 60m Hurdles including the second fastest of all-time
o Has won 28 races out of 32 contested indoors and outdoors (heats & finals)
18-year-old Pamela Jelimo is the current Olympic champion for the women’s 800m. In 2008, the Kenyan set five World Junior records and was the solo winner of the $1 million ÅF Golden League Jackpot.
Pamela Jelimo’s credentials
o Has won the 800m Olympic gold medal in Beijing
o Has won the 2008 ÅF Golden League Jackpot
o Has set five World Junior records and four African senior records at 800m
o Has won the African Championships at 800m
o Has remained undefeated through 2008
The winners of the 2008 World Athlete of the Year Awards will be announced live, on stage, during the 2008 World Athletics Gala, which will take place in Monaco, on 23 November 2008.
All other finalists for the World Athlete of the Year award were profiled yesterday and the day before.