Usain Bolt and Olympic women's 400m hurdles champion Melanie Walker were named Jamaica's male and female athletes of the year for 2008 on Tuesday.

Triple Olympic gold medallist Bolt, already the IAAF's Male Athlete of the Year, set world records in winning 100m, 200m and 4x100m relay gold at the Beijing Games.

He was the clear choice to scoop the national year-end award, and said he was proud to add it to the accolades he has already received.

Walker was singled out from a trio of Jamaican gold medallists in Beijing, beating out 200m champion Veronica Campbell-Brown and 100m gold medallist Shelly-A Fraser.

Bolt's coach Glen Mills was voted Coach of the Year.

(Xinhua News Agency December 11, 2008)