Bolt named World Sportsman of the Year
Updated on 12 June 2009
Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt has won the Laureus World Sportsman of the Year award.
Bolt won gold at the Beijing Olympics in the 100 and 200 metres, smashing the world records in both events running 9.69 and 19.30 seconds respectively.
The 22-year-old beat swimmer Michael Phelps, world tennis number one Rafael Nadal, footballer Cristiano Ronaldo, Formula One world champion Lewis Hamilton and MotoGP world champion Valentino Rossi to the award.
Following the ceremony, Bolt said: "I'm aiming to be a legend, just being on top every year and winning all the championships. That's the aim for me right now, just going out there and winning everything I can possibly win. That's to keep my name there and become a legend."
In his first major 100m outing of the season at the rain-soaked Toronto Festival of Excellence Bolt ran impressively, winning in ten seconds flat.
Despite all his current success Michael Johnson said he is not quite ready to call Bolt the greatest ever just yet.
"Every now and then comes an athlete for the times and I believe Usain Bolt is that athlete," the four-times Olympic champion Johnson said.
"It happened for me in 1996, it happened with Carl Lewis in 1984 and Jesse Owens in 1936 and now it is happening for Usain. He doesn't just want to win races and medals, he wants to test the limits."
The American continued: "For him to be the greatest, he'll have to win gold at another Olympics or a world championship, show some consistency and longevity."
He added: "But there's no reason for me to think he can't do it."
© Independent Television News Limited 2009. All rights reserved.
These news feeds are provided by an independent third party and Channel 4 is not responsible or liable to you for the same.
