Six-time Olympic champion and eight-time world champion Bolt received an overwhelming 1,282 - 30.24 per cent - of the votes from a panel of 470 sports journalists from 96 countries, followed by German formula one driver Sebastian Vettel with 499, and Real Madrid and Portuguese footballer Cristiano Ronaldo on 437.

This year saw Bolt regaining his title as the world's fastest man by winning the 100 metres in a time of 9.77sec at the World Championships in Moscow, where he also won the 200m with 19.66 and the 4x100m relay with his Jamaican teammates.

He also participated at the 2013 London Anniversary Games, where he won the 100 metres and 4x100m relay, and was named as the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) Male Athlete of the Year for the fifth time.

orld number one Williams received 915 of the votes, ahead of Russian pole vaulter Yelena Isinbayeva with 644 and Jamaican sprinter - and Bolt's fellow World Athlete of the Year title holder - Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce on 551.

Williams aced her finest season statistically in 2013 with a 78-4 record and 11 titles, including her second French Open - her first since 2002 - and fifth US Open.

Serena Williams has been named by AIPS as the Best Female Athlete after having her finest season statistically in 2013 ©Getty Images


She also achieved the best winning percentage since 1990 with 95.1 per cent and became the first woman's player to eclipse the $10 million ($6 million/€7 million) prize money mark at $12,385,572 (£7,485,542/€8,988,729), breaking the previous single-season prize money record of $7.9 million (£4.8 million/€5.7 million) set by Victoria Azarenka last year.

She was named the International Tennis Federation (ITF) women's world champion for the fourth time and the second year in a row.

The AIPS best team title went to Germany's European football champions Bayern Munich - who this year won their first Club World Cup title - with 1,707 votes, 1,128 ahead of runners up Miami Heat, the two-time National Basketball Association (NBA) champions who racked up a 27-game winning streak in 2013.

Third placed were the New Zealand All Blacks rugby team - who achieved 14 wins from 14 matches in 2013 - on 461 votes.

The UEFA Champions League Final was named as the winner of the One Day Sporting Event award for the best press facilities, while the Moscow IAAF World Championships took the same award in the Major Championship category with 558 votes, ahead of the FIFA Confederations Cup with 545 and the International Aquatics Federation (FINA) World Championships on 486.

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