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PARIS, France (CMC):
Eurosport has named Jamaica's super sprinter, Usain Bolt, its 2008 Sports Personality of the Year, for his enthralling victories at the Beijing Olympics in August.
Bolt stories are continuing to flood the international media as they did in August, as the sports world acclaims his majestic gold- medal sprinting in Beijing as the most compelling of the year.
The Eurosport-Yahoo website conducted a poll among journalists, commentators and pundits to give their top-three sportspeople- based on achievements over the past 12 months and the 22-year-old Caribbean giant easily topped the votes.
Bolt, who smashed world records in the 100 and 200 metres in Beijing and also helped to propel the Jamaica sprint relay team to world-record gold, almost tripled his nearest rival - Michael Phelps - with a tally of 126 points in the poll.
The scoring system awarded 10 points if placed first, seven points for second and five for third.
Phelps, who won an unprecedented eight Olympic gold medals in Beijing, gathered 46 points, 80 behind Bolt, for the runner-up spot.
Lewis hamilton third
Britain's Formula One driving champion with Grenadian roots, Lewis Hamilton, was third, with 34 points.
Next on the grid were Spain's tennis champion Rafael Nadal (29) and Portugal's Manchester United football star Cristiano Ronaldo (22).
The honour from Eurosport, the European sports satellite and cable network, is the latest in a growing list of accolades for Bolt.
He previously won the prestigious IAAF Male Athlete of the Year award last month in Monaco, Central America and Caribbean (CAC) Athlete of the Year, Jamaica's Athlete of the Year, the BBC Overseas Sports Personality award, plus the Champion of Champions 2008 label for the French magazine L'Equipe.
Bolt became only the third man in the 50-year history of the highly respected L'Equipe magazine's Athlete of the Year choices to receive a perfect score from the international panel.
Before an astounding week at the Beijing Olympics, when he sped to world-record runs in his three events, Bolt had served notice with a fabulous world-record run at the Reebok Games in May, whipping world champion Tyson Gay to win in 9.72 seconds.
In Beijing, he landed the men's 100 metres in 9.69 seconds, the 200 in 19.30 and helped Jamaica win the sprint relay in 37.10 seconds.
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