IT'S GETTING close to that time again when the country's top sportsmen and women will be recognised by the RJR Sports Foundation Group.

Among the main prizes are the coveted Sportsman and Sports-woman of the Year awards, but this time, unlike some previous years, we do not expect any major surprises, at least for the male crown.

Olympic Games triple gold medallist Usain Bolt, who won the 100m in 9:69 seconds, the 200m in 19:30 and helped Jamaica to the 4x100m victory in 37.10, all world record times, is easily the Sportsman of the Year.

Asafa Powell, who anchored Jamaica to the world 4x100m world record, should be first runner-up while Michael Frater could be the third male.

But, based on the selection committee's choices over the past few years, they could miss the best Jamaican performer for the year in the female section.

First, before I look at the possible nominees, let me say, the RJR Sports Foundation Group, just like the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), should invite the general public to help in its selections.

Like the IAAF, the public could contribute 30 per cent of the vote to help reduce a maximum of 10 males and 10 females to three, from which the committee would make the final decision.

Personally, I do not think any more than three men and three women should be in the final cut of nominees.

Due to the fact that they hand out awards to the top individuals in the various sports, there should be no need to have more than three persons on either side.

Unlike the men's section, the women's race is between three individuals - Veronica Campbell-Brown, Shelly-Ann Fraser and Melaine Walker - all gold medal winners at the Beijing Olympics.

Selection criteria

Before I pick my winner, let's look at the selection criteria made up of four levels.

Level One - Distinguished achievement or honours earned at the level of the Olympic Games or at the level of any recognised World Championships ... or world record.

Level Two - Distinguished achievement or honours earned at the Commonwealth or Pan American level.

Level Three - Distinguished achievement or honours earned at the Central American and Caribbean level.

Level Four - Distinguished achievement or honours earned at the local level.

Despite the criteria, I do not think every medal winner should be nominated as there is another section of the rules which states that only "a maximum of 10 performances by both males and females" can be nominated, which means if 15 women or men win the same colour medal at an Olympic Games, what do you do? Change the rule and select all? No, they would have to choose the best 10.

And that is why I believe no more than three should be selected for the final cut.

Yes, other people did well by winning silver and bronze medals and even reaching finals but, again, I am only settling for three people, as more to me is a waste of time.

The other medallists or finalists I believe should be recognised in a special way as the top three would automatically get the first and the runners-up spots.

Now my reason for the three women selected is that they all created history.

Back-to-back titles

Campbell-Brown was the first woman to win back-to-back 200m titles (21.74), Fraser became the first Jamaican to win the 100m (10.76) and Walker secured her 400m hurdles victory in a Games' record (52.64).

Fraser, despite winning the flagship event, for me would be the second runner-up, not only because she lost at the National Champion-ships, but also because of the defeats she suffered on the circuit.

Now, we are down to Campbell-Brown, who had a personal best 21.74-second run for the Olympic title and Walker, whose personal best 52.64 was an Olympic and national record.

Campbell-Brown suffered two defeats in the year, both at the National Stadium in separate events, while Walker's only defeat came all the way back in February and maybe too early for it to be considered as a real loss.

It's difficult to choose between the two as Campbell-Brown who had six sub-11 100m times and three sub-22 in the 200m did so in flagship events, but it has to be noted that Walker had 15 straight victories, a national record and the Olympic record.

However, there can only be one winner and, despite Campbell-Brown's advantage over Walker in the IAAF online poll, I am going with Walker.

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