Bolt named World Athlete of the Year for fifth time

MONACO. Usain Bolt has been named male World Athlete of the Year for a fifth time. The 27-year-old Jamaican, who also won last year, clinched 100m, 200m and 100m relay gold in the World Championships in Moscow in August.

Sunday, November 17, 2013
Usain Bolt claims Jamaican drug cheats are costing him money. Net photo.

MONACO. Usain Bolt has been named male World Athlete of the Year for a fifth time. The 27-year-old Jamaican, who also won last year, clinched 100m, 200m and 100m relay gold in the World Championships in Moscow in August.Fellow Jamaican Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce took the women’s award after winning the same three golds as Bolt in Russia.Earlier this week, the 27-year-old said she will refuse to run in major events unless Jamaica’s athletics authorities "stand by” their athletes.Bolt, who beat Britain’s double world champion from Moscow Mo Farah to the award, became the most successful athlete in the history of the World Championships this year with his eighth gold and 10th medal in total.At the awards ceremony in Monaco, he said his 2014 target was to beat his 200m world record of 19.19 seconds."That has always been my dream; that has always been my aim,” he said. "The 200m is much easier than the 100m to try for a record and that would be my main focus this season.”Bolt has previously said he could retire after the 2016 Olympics - but he added he might yet compete at the World Championships in London the following year.Fraser-Pryce has now won seven medals at World Championships to add to her four Olympic medals.Jamaican doping issues Olympic sprint champion Usain Bolt said on Saturday that controversy over Jamaica’s anti-doping program is scaring off potential sponsors and costing him money."There is a lot going on with this drug thing that I really feel they need to be clear (about) and clarify because now it is causing problems for me when it comes to making money in my sport,” he told a news conference in Monaco."It is really costing me money now. I am not too happy with that,” he said. "Track and field is my job.”High-ranking World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) officials went to Jamaica last month to look at the country’s anti-doping efforts after weeks of criticism following positive tests from several high-profile athletes.WADA president John Fahey had suggested the Caribbean nation could face severe penalties if the Jamaica Anti-Doping Commission (JADCO) was declared non-compliant. Only WADA code-compliant sports can participate in the Olympic Games.