Summer Federations Roundup -- IAAF World Athletes of the Year; New Format for Modern Pentathlon

Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt and Russian pole vaulter Yelena Isinbayeva, pictured with IAAF President Lamine Diack, were crowned male and female world athletes of the year at the gala.(Getty Images)Bolt, Isinbayeva Named World Athletes of the Year at IAAF Gala

Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt and Russian pole vaulter Yelena Isinbayeva were crowned male and female World Athletes of the Year at the IAAF World Gala at the Salles des Etoiles of the Sporting Club d’Ete in Monte Carlo on Sunday.

Bolt and Isinbayena each claimed $100,000 for winning their awards.

The Gala was hosted by International Athletic Foundation (IAF) Honorary President Prince Albert II of Monaco and IAF and IAAF President Lamine Diack, with around 600 track and field dignitaries in attendance.

Bolt won gold medals at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing with world-record times of 9.69 seconds in the 100-meter dash and 19.30 seconds in the 200 meters and was a part of Jamaica’s 4x100-meter relay team that won gold with a world-record time of 37.10 seconds.

“I have a motto that anything is possible. But this really is such an honor,” Bolt said. “Just to be included with every great name in the sport is wonderful. I’ll try to do it year after year.”

Isinbayeva won her second consecutive gold medal in the women’s pole vault with a world record of 16-feet-6 ¾ inches at the 2008 Olympics and was undefeated in nine outdoor competitions this year. She also improved on her own world record three times, including at the Beijing Games.

For Isinbayena, winning the award was an honor, especially after rebounding this year after struggling the last two seasons.

“I’m very proud. It feels like the first time after getting over my difficulties of 2006 and 2007. I will make a very special honor for this trophy,” Isinbayeva said. “I knew it was going to be difficult over the past two seasons. I was very confident that I could break through the wall.” IAAF recognized numerous athletes at the IAAF World Gala in Monte Carlo. (Getty Images)

Other award winners were Dayron Robles of Cuba (male performance of the year), Tirunesh Dibaba of Ethiopia and Barbora Spotakova of the Czech Republic (female performance of the year), Pamela Jelimo of Kenya (revelation of the year), Kaisa Bergqvist and Stefan Holm of Sweden and Jefferson Perez of Ecuador (distinguished career), Henry Rono of Kenya (inspirational) and Jackie Joyner-Kersee of the U.S. (80 years of women’s athletes at the Olympic Games).

Special Olympic awards were presented to Bolt, Dibaba, Isinbayena, Francoise Mbango of Cameroon, Angelo Taylor of the U.S. and Andreas Thorkildsen of Norway.

UIPM Decides on New Competition Format at Congress

The Union Internationale de Penthatlon Moderne (UIPM) changed the competition format of the sport at its annual congress in Antigua, Guatemala Nov. 21-23.

The UIPM member federations convened and agreed to the adoption of a combined formatshoot/run), passing the measure with a two-third majority. The combined event will be the new competition format for modern pentathlon as of Jan. 1, 2009. The UIPM’s Modern Pentathlon Congress agreed to adopt a combined shoot/run competition format.(Getty Images)

Under the guidelines of the new format, the competition will begin with fencing, followed by swim and equestrian ride and then the shoot/run finish.

Elections for UIPM officers were also on the agenda, with Klaus Schormann of Germany re-elected for his fifth term as president of the federation on Sunday.

Other officials elected were: Juan Antonio Samarach, Jr. of Spain (1st vice president), Ivar Sisniega of Mexico (2nd vice president), Kui-Sung Choi of South Korea (3rd vice president) and John Helmick of the U.S. (vice president for business affairs). Gyula Bretz of Hungary (treasurer), Mauro Tirinnanzi of Italy (member for sport), Janis Liepins of Latvia (member for marketing), Zhang Bin of China (member for development) and Alexander Peirits of Austria and Helio Mireilles of Brazil (honorary auditors) round out the group.

IAAF Chooses Venues for Future Competitions at Monaco Meeting

The IAAF agreed on venues for a number of track and field competitions on the last day of its meeting in Monte Carlo on Saturday before the federation’s World Athletic s Gala on Sunday.

The federation decided on venues for three competitions in 2010, with the World Athletics Final to be hosted by Rabat, Morocco Sept. 11-12, the World Cup in Split, Croatia Sept. 4-5 and the world Half Marathon Championships in Nanning, China Oct. 9, while the 2011 IAAF World Youth Championships are scheduled for Lille, France July 6-10.

The IAAF also agreed on anti-doping rule changes to bring the organization in compliance with the world anti-doping code by Jan. 1, 2009, as well as discussing the next stages in the project to reform the structure of the World Athletics Tour.

Denmark to Host 2009 FEI General Assembly

The FEI board of directors voted to hold the federation’s 2009 General Assembly in Aarhus, Denmark at this year’s event which recently concluded in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Denmark was selected by the FEI board over Italy and Japan.

“Hosting the FEI General Assembly is important for Denmark because it can nurse the ambitions of the Danish Equestrian Federation in getting representation in the Bureau of the FEI and also increase the chances of being awarded more international events in the future.” Danish Equestrian Federation chairman Ulf Hegstrand said.

The FEI has 134 member countries that each send delegates to the General Assembly. 500 people are expected for the General Assembly in Aarhus including delegates, guests and the employees of FEI. The assembly will be in late November 2009.

Written by Greg Oshust.