Bolt and Pajón voted Best Athletes in Latin America & the Caribbean

JAMAICAN sprinter Usain Bolt and the Colombian cyclist Mariana Pajon won the Prensa Latina Survey, chosen as the best athletes from Latin America and the Caribbean for the year.

Bolt, winner in 2008 and 2009, in addition to occupying second place in the 2011 survey, reinforced his record as a three-time Olympic champion in London ‘12, winning 120 ballots of a possible 142 cast by participating media from 20 countries.
Mexico led the portion of the survey devoted to the best teams in 2012, thanks to the Tri's flawless performance in soccer at the London Olympics.

The London ‘12 champion in the 100- and 200-meter sprint and the short relay surpassed voting for Argentine Lionel Messi of FC Barcelona who came in second with 106 votes, Colombian striker Radamel Falcao Atletico Madrid (42) and Venezuelan baseball player for the Detroit Tigers Miguel Cabrera (40).
Messi, winner of the 2011 survey, was left far behind by Bolt, despite his amazing record of 90 goals for the calendar year and the imminent conquest of his fourth Balon d’Or, a fact that demonstrated once again the weight carried by the Olympics in terms of votes.

Cuban Leinier Dominguez, best chess player at the moment in Latin America, his compatriot Mijain Lopez, London ‘12 champion in the 120kg Greco-Roman wrestling category, garnered 29 votes each and were more distant than expected.

Among women, the Colombian BMX Olympic champion in London swept the survey of 63 media participants, ahead of the runner Jamaican Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce (38) and Cuban judoka Idalys Ortiz (34).
Pajon, 21, won Latin American Athlete of the Year, overcoming her compatriot, long jumper Caterine Ibargüen, sending the prize to Colombian soil for the second year running, something which has happened once before, in 1999-2000, when motorist Juan Pablo Montoya and weightlifter Maria Isabel Urrutia both received majority votes.