The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

Already labelled as the Bahamian female athlete of the future, sprinter Anthonique Strachan got another feather in her cap when she was awarded the Female Rising Star Award at the IAAF’s Athletes of the Year Awards.

In a ceremony that was held on Saturday in Barcelona, Spain, 19-year-old Strachan received the award from former quarter mile champion Marie-Jos� P�rec as she became the first woman in six years to win the 100m/200m sprint double at the World Junior Championships.

Her times of 11.20 and 22.53 seconds respectively were personal bests - the latter an area junior record - and she later reached the Olympic semifinals.

“I’m stunned. I didn’t know anything about getting the award. I thought I had been invited here to Barcelona to watch and be inspired,” said Strahan in an interview on the IAAF website. “Allyson Felix said that she got the Female Rising Athlete of the Year nine years ago, so I now have as my target to emulate here and come back to the gala in nine years’ time and be the Female World Athlete of the Year.”

While Strachan collected the female award in the Grand Ballroom of the Pullman Skipper Hotel, ahead of this evening’s IAAF Centenary Gala Show in the MNAC Museum, the male Rising Star Award went to Kwshorn Walcott of Trinidad & Tobago. It was the first honour for both the Bahamas and Trinidad & Tobago.

As expected, sprinters Usain Bolt of Jamaica and Allison Felix from the United States were the 2012 Male and Female World Athletes of the Year.

Bolt, 26, the World Athlete of the Year in 2008, 2009 and 2011, successfully defended both his 100m and 200m titles at the Olympic Games in London, clocking 9.63 and 19.32 respectively, both the fastest times in the world this year. He concluded his Olympic appearance by anchoring a Jamaican quartet to a 36.84 world record in the 4x100m relay. He won six out of seven competitions in the 100m, and three of four in the 200m.

Felix, 27, following World 200m titles in 2005, 2007 and 2009, won the Olympic 200m title in London and was part of the gold medal-winning 4x100m and 4x400m relay teams to become the first woman since 1988 to win three gold medals at a single Olympic Games.

The victorious 4x100m relay quartet in London clocked a 40.82 world record. Her 21.69 victory in the 200m at the US Olympic Trials was the fastest in the world this year and made Felix the fourth fastest woman in history.

The USA Olympic 4 x 100m reay team was named the Female Performance of the Year after their world record breaking performance at the Olympics. However, the Golden Knights’ team of Chris ‘Fireman’ Brown, Demetrius Pinder, Michael Mathieu and Ramon Miller failed to earn the Male Performance of the Year after they stunned the USA to win the gold.

That award went to Kenya’s David Rudisha, who lowered his world record in winning the gold in the 800 in London.

Bahamas Association of Athletic Associations (BAAA)president Mike Sands congratulated Strachan on her achievement.

“Her performance is a testament of the hard work that she put in with her coaches,” Sands said. “It’s a major achievement for her and the Bahamas and we congratulate her. We know that there is still a lot more ahead for her, so we are excited about her future.”

Strachan, a former standout at St Augustine’s College, is now being coached by Henry Rolle in Auburn. She is expected to be competing as a professional athlete in her first full season next year.