For the second consecutive year, world 10,000 meter champion Kenenisa Bekele and World pole vault champion Yelena Isinbayeva were named the World Athletes of the Year for 2005 tonight at the World Athletics Gala at Monte Carlo's Hotel Fairmont.

Bekele, the young Ethiopian who assumed the distance running mantle from compatriot Haile Gebrselassie, successfully defended his 10,000 meter title in Helsinki, won his fourth consecutive double world cross country championship in March, and late last month, broke his own world record in the 10,000 in Brussels, clocking 26:17.53. He was also the fastest this season in the 5000, clocking 12:40.18.

Undefeated in 13 competitions indoors and out, Isinbayeva raised the world record in all but five of those contests, most recently to 5.01 at the world championships to capture her first World title. Her dominance of the event is not in doubt; indeed, even her rivals readily admit that any competition in which the Russian competes is one for second.

Keeping in tune with the 'new generation' theme that emerged from last year's Olympic Games, both Bekele and Isinbayeva are just 23 years old.

"As you know, I started the year with great grief," Bekele said. Last winter, Bekele suffered the loss of his fiancee, who dided suddenly while accompanying him on a training run. "Let alone to be eligible to be for this award, I never expected to return to competition in such a way to do this well."

Isinbayeva, who nearly made record-breaking a matter or routine, said she was as thrilled as she was surprised to win the year's top honor yet again.

"I,m so happy to win this two years in a row," she said. "The season was so interesting for me and so difficult. It was exciting because I jumped five metres and won the world championship. I,m so happy, and I just hope that next season will be the same as this year. I didn,t think about [winning again]. I just jumped, broke world records, and won competitions. I didn,t really think that I could win this for the second time."

Bekele was eager to thank family, friends and supporters for his second athlete-of-the-year honor.

"My getting to this position is something that doesn,t completely surprise me at this point," Bekele said, "because what I see it,s due to the people that are around me. There are those who have run with me during my gold medal efforts and there are people who have cried with me during my times of grief. There are people with me all the time. And I understand that it is the love of the people around me that has enabled me to reach this position. I never understood that people could be so supportive to others not just in sports, but in life. And I am very moved by this."