INQUIRER Sports

TORONTO?The world's fastest man, Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt, was awarded the title of 2009 Laureus World Sportsman of the Year here on Wednesday.

The 22-year-old athlete received the award from Laureus World Sports Academy member Michael Johnson at the Festival of Excellence track and field meet in Toronto in recognition of his superlative performance at the Beijing Olympics last year.

At the Games, Bolt became the first man in history to win the 100 meters (9.69secs), 200 meters (19.30secs) and 4x100 meters relay (37.10secs) gold medals in world record times in the same Olympiad.

Bolt's 200 meters time broke the long-standing world record of 19.32secs set by Johnson in the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta.

Johnson said: "Usain's 100 meters in Beijing was the greatest sprinting performance I have ever seen, no doubt about it. His arrival on the scene over the last two years has been explosive and he thoroughly deserves to be Laureus World Sportsman of the Year."

Bolt is set to run his first 100m of the year here on Thursday.