Sprint icon Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce and Commonwealth Games 110m-hurdles champion Rasheed Broadbell were named Sportswoman and Sportsman of the year, respectively, at the 2022 RJRGLEANER Sports Foundation national awards on Friday night.
The Gala Awards took place at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel.
There were several highlights in Fraser-Pryce’s season, not least her fifth world 100m title at the World Championships in Eugene, Oregon, but the first big ‘wow’ moment of 2022 for the 36-year-old sprinter came at the Continental Tour Gold meeting in Nairobi, where she won in 10.67 – what became the first of a record seven sub-10.70 clockings.
Rasheed Broadbell (left) receives the Sportsman of the Year award from Sports Minister Olivia Grange. (PHOTO: Llewellyn Wynter).
Broadbell had a fantastic 2022.
After finishing second at the National Championships, Broadbell overcame a sub-par performance at the World Championships to win the 110m hurdles title at the Commonwealth Games with a time of 13.08 seconds. After a series of good Diamond League performances, including becoming the third Jamaican to run sub-13 seconds in the sprint hurdles with an outstanding run of 12.99 seconds in Lausanne, Switzerland, Broadbell went on to take the silver medal at the Diamond League Final in Zurich in 13.06 seconds. He finished the year ranked fourth for the 110m hurdles.
Runners-up for the two major titles were sprinter Shericka Jackson and cricketer Rovman Powell.
Earlier, Fraser-Pryce and Jackson were declared joint winners in the track and field category award.
Jackson shocked the world with amazing 200m runs in 2022. She took the sprint double at the National Championships, before winning the 200m at the World Championships in Oregon, running the second fastest time in history –21.45 seconds.
She also took silver in the 100m and the sprint relay at the World Championships. She then won the 100m at the NACAC Championship, finished second in the 100m at the Diamond League final, and won the 200m Diamond in Zurich. She finished the year ranked No. 1 in the 200m and No. 2 in the 100m.
Other major awards presented were the Chairman’s Award to Cedella Marley, national senior women’s football team ambassador and daughter of the late Reggae icon Bob Marley; the People’s Choice “Performance of the Year Award” to Nicholas Hamilton of Harbour View FC; the VM Group Y.O.U.T.H Award to world under-20 triple jump champion Jaydon Hibbert; and the Gleaner Newspaper Lifetime Achievement Award to former 100-metre world record holder Asafa Powell.
