media_artricles :: 2013

Mo for Mo

Greene picks Farah ahead of Bolt in Athlete of the Year race

American sprint great Maurice Greene has tipped Great Britain’s Mohamed Farah for the IAAF Male Athlete of the Year award.

Greene was among three former Olympic champions interviewed by Trinidad and Tobago’s 1997 200 metres world champion Ato Boldon at the Fairmont Monte Carlo Hotel, in Monaco, yesterday, as part of the build-up to tomorrow’s World Athletics Gala.

Farah captured the men’s distance double at the 2013 World Championships in Moscow, Russia, winning the 5,000 and 10,000 metres events.

The other Male Athlete of the Year finalists are Jamaican sprint legend Usain Bolt, who struck gold in the men’s 100m and 200m in Moscow and also anchored Jamaica to victory in the 4x100m relay, and Ukraine’s world high jump champion Bohdan Bondarenko.

Mo Greene explained why he picked Mo Farah ahead of Bolt.

“With Usain you expect it. That’s what he does. When Mo performs, you don’t expect to see him do it. He does it unexpectedly, which brings excitement to the event and the people.”

Greene pointed to Farah’s 1,500m European record at the Herculis 2013 Samsung Diamond League meet, here in Monaco on July 19, as an example of the unexpected. Farah returned an impressive time of three minutes, 28.81 seconds for second spot, behind Kenya’s Asbel Kiprop (3:27.72).

But while Bolt was not Greene’s pick for Male Athlete of the Year, the 2000 Olympic Games 100m gold medallist was high in praise for the six-time Olympic champion.

“Usain is an incredible human being, so unique. I really wonder what he can do if he stays healthy and trains all-out for six months.”

Greene believes the Female Athlete of the Year award should go to Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce. The Jamaican athlete captured the women’s sprint double in Moscow, as well as sprint relay gold.

Dwight Phillips, the 2004 Olympic men’s long jump champion, and 1996 Olympic 110m hurdles gold medallist Allen Johnson were also interviewed by Boldon yesterday.

Phillips agreed with Greene that Farah was the best choice for the Male Athlete of the Year award. However, his choice for the women’s award was New Zealand’s world shot put champion Valerie Adams.

Fraser-Pryce, Adams and Czech Republic’s World Championship 400m hurdles gold medallist Zuzana Hejnova are the three women’s finalists.

Johnson said that while his pick was actually reigning 100m hurdles world champion Brianna Rollins, Fraser-Pryce was the best candidate still in the race.

Johnson is backing Bolt for the Male Athlete of the Year award.

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