Cheruiyot crowned Africa's best female athlete of 2011 at UFRESA awards
ABIDJAN, April 4,2012 (Please scroll down for French) – Months after Vivian Cheruiyot's impressive double Gold at the World athletics championships in Daegu that marked an exceptional track and cross country season, accolades are still coming her way.
Cheruiyot, was crowend in absentia by the Union of African women sports reporters (UFRESA) and a public online voting as the contient's finest during the inaugural Africa Female Athlete of the Year awards ceremony held Saturday,march 30 in Abidjan, aimed at encouraging the regions talented women often shadowed by their men's sporting feats.
The double world gold winner(5000m,10000m) and reigning world cross country champion who was also recently named the Laureus Female 2012 athlete of the year, barely a month after she was crowned Kenya's top athlete of the just ended season pipped Nigerian football star, N'Kwocha Perpetua who took the runners-up position and Senegalese wrestler, Isabelle Sambou,second runners-up, who qualified for the Olympics for the first time.
The award for most promising female star was awarded to Beninese Océane Ganiero (karate), while the Special Jury Prize went to Gambian Isatou Nyang Paralympic basketball.
The trophy for "Peace and Sport" for her peace messages in Northern kenyan through the annual peace run belonged to Kenyan Tegla Loroupe.
This first edition of the Awards UFRESA reconginised the achievements and leadership of the Burundian Football Federation, President Lydia N'sekera an IOC member and member of FIFA's women's football committee as she was crowned the best administrator.
Founded in 2006 in Warri, Nigeria, UFRESA works for cohesion among its members and draws membership from 300 female sports reporters/Writers from 23 African countries.
Journalist from five countries, Nigeria, Senegal, DR Congo, Congo Brazzaville, Benin were represented at the awards whose chief guest was Maryse Ewandjé, legendary sportswriter Philippe Doucet and French Nicolas Costs, the Director of football operations of Orange.
(Source: AIPS)
