Michael Hall - Colin Hamilton/Freelance Photographer

Anthony Foster, Freelance Writer

In rather unusual circumstances, several nominees left Thursday night's RJR Sports Foundation Sportsman and Sportswoman of the Year ceremony without an award.

In previous years all the nominees were presented with momentos, but that wasn't the case this time.

The senior athletes included Delloreen Ennis-London, Kemel Thompson and Christopher Williams, all bronze medallists from the Commonwealth Games, and Ricardo Chambers and Ricardo Williams, both gold medallists from the Central American and Caribbean (CAC) Games.

A number of junior athletes were also not rewarded, as expected, for performances last year.

Kaliese Spencer and the boys' 4x100m, respective winners of the 400m hurdles and sprint relay at the World Junior Championships, were among those who did not receive awards.

Also, the names of two of the 20 nominees, Jerome Taylor and Nicholas Walters, were left off the programme.

A few of the nominees were heard grumbling about not getting any awards. Two even went as far as saying they will not attend another function.

At the press launch, chairman of the RJR Sports Foundation, Michael Hall, announced several persons who would have been presented with awards.

He said: "Anyone who medalled at any major competition last year will be recognised on the night of the awards ceremony, and receive special awards."

In an interview with The Gleaner on Wednesday, Hall also said all medallists from the World Junior Championships would be recognised.

Over the years, all these performances were rewarded with special awards.

According to project coordinator, Norman Brown-Bell, those persons will be rewarded at a later date.

"Presentations will be made, we haven't come up with a time and date, but presentations will be made," she promised.

Top track & field coach Stephen Francis was not pleased with the overall ceremony.

Obviously a thrill

Regarding the fact that both his athletes, Asafa Powell and Sherone Simpson, won the major awards - Sportsman and Sportswoman of the Year - he said "it's obviously a thrill".

In another breath, he added: "I am somewhat disappointed by the overall ceremony, because I don't think that enough emphasis was placed on the athletes themselves. There were a lot of athletes that were here expecting to be given awards, and as far as I know they got nothing," said Francis.

"The relay teams that did so well at the Commonwealth Games and the kids who got medals at the World Junior Championship. In the past they were a big part of the ceremony," he lamented.