World sprint champions, Usain Bolt and Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, copped the major titles as Jamaica won five of the six categories in the second Annual Caribbean Sports Awards, organised by the Caribbean Sports Journalists’ Association.
Bolt was unanimously chosen as the sportsman of the year, beating Paralympic athlete, Akeem Stewart of Trinidad and Tobago and O’Dayne Richards of Jamaica.
Bolt successfully defended his titles in the 100m, 200m and 4x100m at the IAAF World Championships in Beijing last August.
The Jamaican sprinter clocked a world-leading time of 19.55 seconds when winning the 200m and he now owns 17 gold medals from senior global championships.
Fraser-Pryce continued her sprint dominance to win gold medals in the 100m and 4x100m in Beijing including anchoring Jamaica’s 4x100m relay team in a championship record time of 41.07.
The other nominees for the sportswoman of the year award were Jamaicans Stafanie Taylor (Cricket) and Danielle Williams (Athletics); Shaunae Miller (Athletics) of the Bahamas; Akela Jones (Athletics) of Barbados; Denia Caballero (Athletics) of Cuba and Trinidad and Tobago track and field athletes Kelly-Ann Baptiste, Michelle Lee Ahye and Cleopatra Borel.
With the absence of the Olympic Games in 2015, the judges focused on distinguished achievement, honour or world record achieved at the World Championships, Pan American Games or similar high level of competitions in their respective sport to arrive at the winners.