( L - R ) Powell and Simpson

NEW YORK, United States (CMC):

World 100-metres record holder, Asafa Powell, will be honoured at an International Sports Awards banquet in New York next month.

The New York-based Interna-tional Sports Group (ISG), organisers of the February 3 event, said in a statement Wednesday that Powell was among "an impressive list of personalities from the world of sports who are being recognised for their accomplishments in various disciplines."

Powell, voted Male Athlete of the Year by the International Amateur Athletic Federation (IAAF) last year, also recently received the top Commonwealth Games Sports Foundation award.

List of honourees

The ISG is a consortium headed by Jamaican entrepreneur, Patrick Payne. The event takes place at the Long Island Marriott Hotel.

The list of honourees includes other Jamaicans, star sprinter Sherone Simpson, and adminis-trator Neville 'Teddy' McCook, former president of the Jamaica Amateur Athletics Association and now an IAAF Hemispheric Representative.

Reverend Canon Dr. Gervais Clarke, regarded as one of the best administrators in track and field competitions, will also be honoured.

Noted FIFA instructor, Dr. Gladstone O. 'Bunny' Byfield; golf instructor, Mark Smith, along with Walter Henning, the current world junior record holder in the hammer throw event, have been included on the list of honourees.

Positive contributions

"The ISA was yet another attempt to recognise and to highlight the positive contributions of Caribbean Americans to the cultural mosaic of the United States," said Payne, chief executive of Bestseller Bookstore and founder/executive director of the Island Games.

"No one should want to forget the brilliant performances of Asafa and Sherone on and off the track in 2006," he added.

Dr. Basil K. Bryan, Consul General of Jamaica to New York, will serve as patron of the awards banquet.