34th Sports Awards of the Year 2017 Lissa Labiche, Dylan Sicobo the best |22 January 2018

Track & field athletics has produced the best male and female athletes for the year 2017 as Lissa Labiche is the Sportswoman of the Year and Dylan Sicobo is the Sportsman of the Year.

This is high jumper Labiche’s third triumph after past wins in 2012 and 2015. As for male sprinter Sicobo, this is his first win.

Sprinter Dylan Sicobo – Sportsman of the Year

This is sprinter Dylan Sicobo’s first Sportsman of the Year title win. Based at the IAAF High Performance Centre in Mauritius where he has former Mauritian great Stephan Buckland as coach, Sicobo had an interesting 2017 season, starting with a personal best of 10.53 seconds in the 100m and later lowering Cyril Brioche’s 30-year-old 10.51 seconds record with a performance of 10.49 seconds.

The 20-year-old capped the year with the 100m gold medal at the Jeux de la Francophonie in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire.

International competitions

. Clocked a personal best of 10.53 seconds

. Lowered Cyril Brioche’s 30-year-old 10.51 seconds record with a performance of 10.49 seconds in a competition in Mauritius

. 100m gold medallist at the Jeux de la Francophonie in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire with a record time of 10.33 seconds (He improved his own Seychelles record in the semifinal with a time of 10.33 seconds)

. 4x100m relay bronze medallist alongside Sharry Dodin, Ned Azemia and Leeroy Henriette in a new Seychelles record time of 40.31 seconds

. Clocked 11.01 seconds in the 100m of the preliminary rounds of the IAAF World Athletics Championships in London

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Athlete Sharry Dodin – Runner-up

Sharry Dodin, 19, is the third fastest athlete Seychelles has ever produced in the 100 metres and he joined forces withDylan Sicobo, Ned Azemia and Leeroy Henriette to win the 4x100m relay bronze medal at the Jeux de la Francophonie in a new Seychelles record time of 40.31 seconds.

National competitions

. Open Season: 100m, first in 10.85 seconds

. National Youth Championship: 100m, first in 10.82 seconds

. Special Events 1: 150m, second in 15.8 seconds (personal best)

. Special Events 2: 60m, first in 6.6 seconds (personal best)

International competitions

. 4x100m relay bronze medallist alongside Dylan Sicobo, Ned Azemia and Leeroy Henriette in a new Seychelles record time of 40.31 seconds

. 100m bronze medallist at the 13th Confederation of African Athletics Under-20 Championship (CAA) in Tlemcen, Algeria in 10.58 seconds.

. Finished eighth in the 200m in 21.43 seconds to better his old junior record of 21.67 seconds set during the Southern Region Senior Athletics Championship in Zimbabwe

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Cyclist Christopher Gerry – Third place

Nineteen-year-old Christopher Gerry has finished third overall and his best performance was a bronze medal in the men’s senior sprint at the African Continental Championship in Durban, South Africa.

National competitions

. Overall classification leader during the national competitions

. Won four competitions

. Took part in most races in 2017.

International competitions

. Joined forces with Mario Ernesta and Xerxes Larue to win the men’s senior sprint bronze medal at the African Continental Championship in Durban, South Africa

. At the African Continental Road Championships in Luxor, Egypt he finished in the peloton

. Took part in the Tour de Maurice

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Cyclist Xerxes Larue – Fourth place

Xerxes Larue’s biggest exploit in 2017 was when he teamed up with Christopher Gerry and Mario Ernesta for the bronze medal in the men’s senior sprint at the African Continental Championship in Durban, South Africa.

National competitions

. Group classification: Winner of six competitions

. Labour Tour winner

. Team champion of the year

. Team champion of the National Championship

International competitions

. Teamed up with Mario Ernesta and Christopher Gerry to win the men’s senior sprint bronze medal at the African Continental Championship in Durban, South Africa

. Took part in the African Continental Road Championships in Luxor, Egypt

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Karateka Steve Marie – Fifth place

A member of the Beau Vallon Tang Soo Do karateka, Steve Marie won two gold medals and a bronze in individual events at the European Tang Soo Do Championship held in Rotterdam, Netherlands.

This good showing earned him fifth place in the overall standings.

National competitions

. SKF Inter-School Champions: Winner of three silver medals in kata, team kata and team kumite

International competition

. Won two gold medals in sparring and open hand kata as well as a bronze in kata with weapon at the European Tang Soo Do Championship in Rotterdam, Netherlands

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Athlete Lissa Labiche – Sportswoman of the Year

Runner-up to Sportswoman of the Year 2016 Alexus Laird, Lissa Labiche is back as the best, bringing to three her number of wins after past triumphs in 2012 and 2015.

Labiche won the women’s high jump gold medal by clearing the bar at 1.91m at the Jeux de la Francophonie in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire in 2017 to equalise the Games’ record.

Her season’s best of 1.91m is just 1 centimetre shy of her own personal best and national record of 1.92m established at the South African Open Championship in May 2015.

National competition

. National Championship, first with 1.80m

International competitions

. Women’s high jump gold medallist with a bar at 1.91m at the Jeux de la Francophonie in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire in 2017 to equalise the Games’ record

. High jump gold medallist at the Southern Region Senior Athletics Championship in Harare, Zimbabwe after clearing the bar at 1.80m

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Weightlifter Clementina Agricole – Runner-up

Beaten to the Sportswoman of the Year title by Lissa Labiche, weightlifter Clementina Agricole stays on two wins achieved in 2013 and 2014.

National competition

. Open Championship: First in the 69kg weight category with 75kg in snatch and 90kg in clean & jerk

International competitions

. First African Senior Weightlifting Championship title after winning three gold medals in the 63kg weight category in Mauritius (86kg in snatch and 107kg in clean & jerk for an Olympic total of 193kg)

. Commonwealth Championship -63kg category gold medallist after lifting a total of 200kg (85kg in snatch and 115kg in clean & jerk).

. French Open, Olympic total of 187kg

. French Championship, Olympic total of 194kg

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Weightlifter Brenda Lozaique – Third place

2017 was probably the best year in terms of medals for weightlifter Brenda Lozaique as she won three bronze medals at the African Senior Weightlifting Championship.

National competition

. Open Championship: First in the 75kg weight category with 55kg in snatch and 70kg in clean & jerk

International competition

. Won three bronze medals after lifting 55kg in snatch and 70kg in clean and jerk ending with an Olympic total of 125kg at the African Senior Weightlifting Championship

Karateka Mastura Shah Faure – Fourth place

After capturing two bronze medals in weapon and sparring at the European Tang Soo Do Championship held in Rotterdam, Netherlands, Mastura Shah Faure says she sees herself as a role model, so women in general are not afraid to join this amazing sport of karate.

National competition

. Silver medallist in the Seychelles Karate Federation (SKF) Inter-School Championship

International competition

. Captured two bronze medals in weapon and sparring at the European Tang Soo Do Championship held in Rotterdam, Netherlands

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Karateka Lindy Bédier – Fifth place

Lindy Bédier performed in the European Tang Soo Do Championship in 2017 and won two bronze medals in kata and kumite.

International competition

. Two-time bronze medallist at the European Tang Soo Do Championship held in Rotterdam, Netherlands