WHO will be named the Male and Female Athlete of the Year when the annual awards show is staged on Tuesday at the Fairmont Southampton?

Certainly in the running for Female Athlete of the Year will be boxer Teresa Perozzi who last weekend lost a top fight to Russian Natasha Ragosina in Germany. Also vying for the top award will be triathlete Flora Duffy who is expected to qualify for the Olympics Games and who was named Athlete of the Year last year.

And of course there is show jumper Jill Terceira who qualified, along with Patrick Nesbitt, for the Olympics in China this summer. Nesbitt will also be in the running for Male Athlete of the Year and both riders qualified for the Beijing Olympics at last summer's Pan American Games in Rio de Janeiro. Only one rider can go to the Olympics and it has yet to be decided who will fly the flag for Bermuda.

And with Bermuda making its first appearance in the Cricket World Cup last year in the West Indies, there are bound to be a number of those players who will be up for the Male Athlete of the Year award ¿ players like Dwayne (Sluggo) Leverock and teenage bowler Malacai Jones who took the wicket of India's opener Robin Uthappa with his very first bowl. Leverock made the catch which sent the Bermuda players into an enormous celebration.

Bermuda's Under-19 captain Rodney Trott who led his team to the first Under-19 World Cup just completed in Malaysia could also be named.

Also in with a very good shout will be top Bermuda professional footballer Khano Smith of the New England Revolution. Smith had a superb season last year with the Revs and made the MLS final.

Top young sailor James Anfossi who proved himself on the world stage has no doubt been in the selectors' minds as has triple and long jumper Arantxa King who now competes for Stanford University will also be in the running.

The awards show will be shown live on TV starting at 7 p.m. on Tuesday.

It is not only the Male and Female Athletes of the Year who will be getting an award but a number of others as well.

The Government Sports Awards Programme also issues honours like the Special Achievement Award which is presented to individuals other than athletes who have made a significant and sustained contribution to sport in a voluntary capacity ¿ people in sports administration and organisation as well as medicine. A maximum of two recipients may receive such awards in any awards year.

There is the Achievement Award which is presented to athletes who excel in national and international competition during the awards year. A maximum of seven recipients may receive such awards in any awards year.

There is also the Bermuda Sport Citation award which is to be presented to those individuals, governing bodies teams, clubs and companies, who have distinguished themselves in sport both past and present. This category is open to all levels of achievement, competition, participation or contribution. A maximum of five recipients may receive such awards in any awards year.

And finally there is the Appreciation Award which is presented to sport bodies who conduct international amateur games at all levels in Bermuda. An appropriate award will be presented to the organising committee of the event. It may also be presented to clubs or organisations who have pioneered, organised and implemented a community/parish programme aimed at family/youth sports participation. A maximum of three recipients may receive such awards in any awards year.

For the first time the general public will allowed into the awards show, said Nicole Conrad who is producing the event for Fresh Creations.

And she said that this year will be special since they will also be putting on an Olympic display telling spectators and TV (ZFB 7) viewers the history of Bermuda at the Olympics.

"The Premier (Dr. Ewart Brown) and Sports Minister (El James) will be there and we are also highlighting Bermuda's past Olympians and many of those athletes will be presenting awards as well.

"We are trying to educate young people about what happened in the Olympic Games years ago. It is very interesting and the history is incredible. Obviously we cannot touch on everyone (from Bermuda) who has competed in the Olympics since there are so many."