American double world sprint champion Tyson Gay and Ethiopian distance runner Meseret Defar were named the 2007 World Athletes of the Year on Sunday.

Both athletes received a $100,000 cash award at the International Association of Athletics Federations, World Athletics Gala.

Gay, 25, won three gold medals at the Osaka world championships last August, sweeping the 100 and 200 metres and running the third leg on the victorious 4x100m relay team.

In the 100, Gay clocked 9.85, relegating world record holder Asafa Powell of Jamaica to third. In the 200, he clocked 19.76, beating Michael Johnson's meeting record. He was only the fourth athlete to collect three gold medals at a single world championships.

Defar, 24, shattered her own world record in the 5,000 metres, clocking 14 minutes 16.63 seconds in Oslo in June, to lower her previous mark by more than eight seconds.

Source: TOI