by Mark Standland

Created on: November 07, 2009   Last Updated: July 08, 2010

Many people around the world follow sport and we all love to follow the gifted athletes of our time. Records were broken and championships were won and some individuals helped their teams give their best effort. Here are some of the athletes that turned heads and earned our recognition in 2009.

Usain Bolt

The always-entertaining Jamaican 100 and 200 meter runner Usain"Lightning" Bolt also had something special in store for the 2009 season. At the 2009 World Championships in Athletics in Berlin Usain Bolt was able to strike his signature lightning bolt pose after all the three sprint finals he appeared in. In the 100 meter final Bolt crushed his former world record of 9.69s by breaking of a new world record run of 9.58s improving his time by 0.11s. In the 200 meter final the Jamaican superstar continued to impress as he once again took home the gold and set a new world record of 19.19 seconds, breaking his old record by 0.11s. In the 4x100 meter relay Bolt once again took home the gold with the rest of the Jamaican team and while they were unable to break the world record of 37.10 they managed to set a championship record running in a time of 37.31 seconds. The time is also the second fastest ever on the 4x100. As a result of his 2009 success Bolt was named the Laureus World Sportsman of the Year for 2009.

Drew Brees

The quarterback of the super bowl winning Saints team was a big part of his team’s success. In the Saints’ run for a title the quarterback threw for 4388 yards, 34 touchdowns, 11 interceptions and an impressive 70.6 completion percentage in the regular season. Bress was the league leader in yards, touchdowns and completion percentage.
Bress went on to throw for 732 yards, 8 touchdowns and no interception in the postseason as the Saints beat all teams on their way to the Super Bowl. Ever since joining the Saints and following hurricane Katrina Bress swore to do great things with the team and was able to make up to his promise in 2009.

Cristiano Ronaldo

In 2009 Cristiano Ronaldo became the most expensive player in soccer when the 80 million pounds ($130 million) transfer between Manchester United and Real Madrid was finalized. Being the most expensive player in history creates a lot of pressure to perform and Ronaldo showed that he was worth the money although being slowed down by an ankle injury. So far in the Primera Division Cristiano Ronaldo has played in 5 games scoring 5 goals while being a constant thread and showing off his big play ability, which have led to key wins for the rebuilding Real Madrid team. He has also showed a high international level scoring 4 goals in only 2 games in the Champions League.

Tiger Woods

Coming off a injury-shortened 2008 season there were concerns whether Tiger Woods would be able to come back and be successful in the 2009 season but while Tiger might not have been back to his 2007 form he was still one of the best athletes of 2009. Even though Tiger ended up finishing 2009 without a Major Championship he was able to set his mark on the PGA Tour. Tiger participated in 17 events picking up 6 wins and three 2nd place finishes. He also finished with a total of 14 Top-10 finishes and 16 in the top 25 while averaging 68.84. His wins in 2009 include BMW Champions, Buick Open and Arnold Palmer Invitational. Tiger ended a great season by winning his second FedEx Cup Championship.

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