ST. GEORGE’S, Grenada, CMC – Kirani James is expected to be a shoo-in for the Grenada Sports Personality-of-the-Year award for the second straight year.
The 400 metres World champion is the most likely nominee to win the award when it is announced on Saturday, January 21, at a ceremony to be held at the Spice Basket Grenada on the outskirts of the capital.
After a string of winning performances as a junior and on the American college circuit, James elevated himself when he captured the 400 gold medal at last year’s World Championships in Daegu, South Korea, beating previous champion LaShawn Merritt of the United States.
James moved up to third on the all-time indoor lists in February last year, recording 44.80 seconds to win at the SEC Indoor Championships.
This left only Amerians Kerron Clement and Michael Johnson as the faster athletes indoors and also bettered LaShawn Merritt’s previous World best junior time of 44.93 seconds.
He failed to reach the podium at the NCAA Indoor meet, when he fell mid-race after being bumped by another racer.
James managed however, to repeat as the collegiate champion outdoors, when he edged ahead of Gil Roberts by one hundredths-of-a-second.
At the end of the college season, he made the decision to turn pro, making his debut at the London Diamond League meet and established himself among the World’s best with a personal best run of 44.61 seconds – a time which made him the fastest man over the distance last year.
Fellow quarter-miler Rondell Bartholomew, 200 semi-finalist Janelle Redhead and coaches Albert Joseph and Alleyne Francique as well as other top performers for 2011 are expected to attend the ceremony.
Four-time Olympic medallist and Commonwealth Games 100m record holder Ato Boldon of Trinidad & Tobago will be the guest speaker.
