Performances to be honoured at Golden Cleats awards

The Performance of the Year has been added to the offerings at the annual Scotiabank/Jamaica Athletics Administrative Association Golden Cleats Awards set for Saturday at the Chinese Benevolent Centre, starting at 6:30 p.m.

Usain Bolt's World Championships 100m win, Danielle Williams' women's 100m hurdles victory, the women's 4x400 team's gold-medal performance, Elaine Thompson and Hansle Parchment's silver medal efforts in the women's 200m and men's 110m hurdles, respectively, as well as Rusheen McDonald's national 400 m record run in the heats at the world championships, are the performances running for the title of bets of the year.

The announcement was made at Scotia Centre in Kingston yesterday. JAAA president Dr Warren Blake said the nominations will have their critics, but argued that there were too many great performances over the course of the year and they chose the best.

"At this time of the year, you have to recognise the excellence of your support staff, and in this case our athletes have done us very proud at the junior and senior level," he said.

Although some observers pointed out that some of the best performances of 2015 were also not included, Blake insisted that great performances were too many.

"At the end of the day a lot of people are not going to be satisfied. There were so many great performances that some had to be left out," he said.

Sprint queen Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce will face tough competition to reclaim the prestigious female athlete of the year award she last won in 2013.

Williams, Thompson, and Shericka Jackson the world 400m bronze medallist are also nominated.

Bolt, has a very good chance of retaking it, with Parchment and O'Dayne Richards, world shotput bronze medallist, his rivals for the award.

nominees

Stephen Francis, Glen Mills, and

respected hurdles trainer, Lennox Graham, are Coach of the year nominees.

The female nominees for youth athletes are St Andrew Technical's Ayesha Champagnie, Junelle Bromfield of St Elizabeth Technical and Shanice Love of Excelsior.

Edwin Allen's Demar Gayle; Marvin Williams and Jevaughn James of STETHS; Calabar's Christopher Taylor, and Clayton Brown; and Obrien Waysome of Jamaica College, are the male selections.

Two young athletes will be in line to receive the Howard Aries/Scotia scholarship. The award goes to a junior athlete for excellence in non-traditional events.