Powell and Richards named as IAAF athletes of year

MONACO, Nov 13 (Reuters) Sprinters Asafa Powell of Jamaica and Sanya Richards of the United States were named as the International Association of Athletics Federations' (IAAF) athletes of the year.

Powell, 23, twice equalled the world 100 metres record of 9.77 seconds he set last year.

He won 16 races and a share of the $1 million IAAF Golden League Jackpot after winning all six races in Golden League competitions.

Richards, 21, was undefeated over 400 meters outdoors and also captured a $250,000 share of the Golden League Jackpot.

She won 13 races, including the year's five fastest performances capped by an American record of 48.70 at the World Cup in Athens in September.

The previous record of 48.83 was set by Valerie Brisco at the 1984 Olympic Games, six months before Richards was born. Her performance was the fastest in the world since the 1996 Olympic Games.

Two world record breakers were given awards for performances of the year. Liu Xiang of China clocked 12.88 seconds in the 110 metres hurdles in Lausanne and Meseret Defar of Ethiopia ran 14 minutes 24.53 seconds over 5,000 metres in New York City.

Reuters PM GC0844