KINGSTON, Jamaica – Jamaican sprinters, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce and Tajay Gayle were named the 2019 RJRGleaner Sports Foundation Sportswoman and Sportsman of the Year at the event ceremony on January 17 in Kingston.
Fraser-Pryce scored her fourth 100m World Championships title at the IAAF World Championships in Doha, Qatar, last year and created history in doing so, by becoming the first athlete, male or female, to win four 100-metre World Championship titles. The 32-year-old won the 100m in a time of 10.71 seconds, the fastest time in 2019, and was also part of the Jamaican 4x100m women’s winning team at the Championships.
The award represents the fourth for Fraser-Pryce who also won the Sportswoman of the Year title in 2012, 2013 and 2015.
The 32-year-old Fraser-Pryce also won a category award, the Female Athletes of the Year for athletics and the People’s Choice Performance of the Year award for her 100m gold medal run in Doha.
Shericka Jackson, who won three medals in Doha, was voted runner-up to the Sportswoman of the Year. The other female nominees were Alia Atkinson (swimming) and Rushell Clayton, Natoya Goule, Shanieka Ricketts, Danniel Thomas-Dodd, Elaine Thompson and Danielle Williams, all from athletics.
The Sportswoman of the Year award was one of several recognitions for Fraser-Pryce following her 2019 season. Just last month, Fraser-Pryce was honored as the Best Female Athlete of 2019 at the Panam Sports Awards ceremony which took place in Fort Lauderdale.
She was also nominated as a finalist for the 2019 IAAF Female Athlete of the Year.
The Sportsman of the year awardee, Tajay Gayle, also had an incredible 2019, making history when became the first-ever Jamaican to score a gold medal in the long jump event at the World Championships.
The 23-year-old set a new personal best with a jump of 8.69 metres. It is also a new national record, erasing the 8.62 metres which was held by James Beckford. Gayle also won a category award, the Male Athletes of the Year for athletics.
Fedrick Dacres, the World Championships discus silver medallist, was voted runner up to the Sportsman of the Year. The other male nominees were Christopher Binnie (squash), Yona Knight-Wisdom (diving) and Travis Smikle (athletics).
Assistant referees Stephanie-Dale Yee Sing and Princess Brown-Muir were jointly presented with the Chairman’s Award for exemplary duties at the FIFA Women’s World Cup in France where Concacaf giant the USA retained their title after blanking The Netherlands 2-0 in Lyon on July 7.
Yee Sing and Brown, who were among eight assistant referees and five referees representing Concacaf at the showpiece, top of their performance by officiating in the semi-final match between The Netherlands and Sweden.
West Indies fast bowling legend, Courtney Walsh, was presented with the Iconic Award.
