Anthony Foster, Freelance Writer

( L - R ) Asafa Powell, Sherone Simpson

( L - R ) Chris Gayle and Foster-Hylton

World 100m record holder Asafa Powell and top female sprinter Sherone Simpson headline 20 nominees for the RJR Sports Foundation Awards for the Sportsman and Sports-woman of the Year 2006.

The winners from the 20 nominees - 10 males, 10 females - will be announced on February 1 at the awards ceremony, set for the Jamaica Pegasus hotel, New Kingston.

Grenada's Prime Minister, Dr. Keith Mitchell, will be the guest speaker.

Christopher Gayle, who scored three centuries for the West Indies during the ICC Champions Trophy tournament, a mini World Cup, and Brigitte Foster-Hylton, who broke the Commonwealth Games 100m hurdles record on her way to the gold medal, along with her World Cup victory, are other prime nominees.

Apart from the major awards, the top persons in all 14 sporting disciplines will be rewarded while some 22 individuals who were not among those nominated, will also be given awards for their achievements during the year.

The RJR Sports Foundation will also recognise 10 individuals with certificates of merit for their contribution to sports over the years.

Like previous years, the Chairman's Award will be a surprise.

RJR Sports Foundation chairman, Michael Hall, said they are pleased with the final list of nominees.

"I think this year, as like every year, we deliberated long and hard, maybe three, four five, or sometimes even six meetings to go over the list, over and over again, to make sure we ourselves as the selection committee and ultimately as a board are satisfied with the persons we have nominated, and are satisfied that the nominations that we put forward can stand up to public scrutiny and certainly scrutiny from the media," Hall said.

Athletes who won medals at major games last year, including Delloreen Ennis-London, Kemel Thompson and Christopher Williams, all bronze medallists from the Commonwealth Games, Ricardo Chambers and Ricardo Williams, both gold medallist from the CAC Games, will be recognised.

"While there may be many medallists at some of the major games which took place last year, you may not necessarily see them in the list of nominees for Sportsman and Sportswoman of the Year, the feeling being while a bronze medal is indeed a significant achievement, it does not necessarily make it worthy of being nominated for this highest award. Nonetheless, anyone who medaled at any major competition last year will be recognised on the night of the awards ceremony and receive a special award," he added.

Meanwhile, deputy managing director of the RJR Communi-cations Group and RJR deputy chairman of the RJR Sports Foundation, Gary Allen, said his company is pleased to be associated with the event.

"I would like to say how pleased we are to continue our association," he said.

NOMINEES:

WOMEN: Alia Atkinson (Swimming) - four individual gold and one silver, CAC Games; Sheri-Ann Brooks (Athletics) - 100m gold, Commonwealth Games; Veronica Campbell (Athletics) - 200m silver, Commonwealth Games; Brigitte Foster-Hylton (Athletics) - 100m H, two gold, Commonwealth Games and World Cup of Athletics; Olivia McKoy (Athletics) - Javelin bronze medals, Commonwealth Games and CAC Games; Sherone Simpson (Athletics) - 200m gold medal, Commonwealth Games and 100m gold World Cup of Athletics; Kenia Sinclair (Athletics) - 800m silver medals, Commonwealth Games and World Indoor; Trecia-Kay Smith (Athletics) - Triple jump gold, Commonwealth Games; Novelene Williams (Athletics) - 400m bronze medal, Commonwealth Games, four sub-50 second clockings - 2nd ranked 400m runner at year-end; Iona Wynter (Cycling) - Gold, CAC Games.

MEN: Usain Bolt (Athletics), 200m silver medal, World Cup of Athletics; Omar Brown (Athletics), 200m gold, Commonwealth Games; Claude Davis (Football), Record signing (£3 million sterling transfer fee) for English Premiership Club Sheffield United, considered the team's best defender; Christopher Gayle (Cricket), Man of the Tournament, ICC Champions Trophy; Asafa Powell (Athletics), 100m gold medal, Commonwealth Games, equalled his own world record twice; Oneil Samuels (Cycling), Gold medal, CAC Games; Maurice Smith (Athletics), Decathlon silver medal, Commonwealth Games; Jerome Taylor (Cricket), Most wickets, ICC Champions Trophy; Nicholas Walters (Boxing), Gold medal & Most Outstanding Boxer CABA, bronze medal, CAC Games; Maurice Wignall (Athletics) 110mH golf medal, Commonwealth Games.

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