When Randy Benjamin says Michael Johnson was the best athlete of 1996, this isn't your usual year-in-review banter.

His opinion counts for something.

Benjamin, a long-time Island sports administrator and currently vice principal at Northlands Secondary School, holds one of the International Amateur Athletic Association's votes for the annual Jesse Owens International Trophy.

And Benjamin, who has correctly picked the most outstanding athlete for each of the 17 years the award has been around, doesn't hedge when asked who he is voting for this year.

"When (Johnson) set the world record in the US trials, I thought that was something,'' said Benjamin, a former president of the Bermuda Track and Field Association. "But then to go even faster in the 200 metres in the Olympic final, that was an outstanding achievement.

"He made Frankie Fredericks (who finished second) look like he was going backwards -- and Fredericks ran the third fastest time ever.'' Johnson, who won two gold medals in the Olympics, setting a 200 metres world record of 19.32, is up against seven others for the award: Donovan Bailey, who set the world record in the 100 metres, Penelope Henys, May Van Dyken and Michelle Smith (swimming), Fu Mingxia (diving), Marie-Jose Perec (athletics), Li Xiaossshuang (gymnastics) and Naim Suleymanoglu (weightlifting).

Ballots must be returned by January 10, 1997, and the official presentation of the award will be held on February 4 at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York City.

Voters must pick three athletes in order, the only restriction being that the second-place athlete must come from a different continent than the first.

Benjamin says he hasn't made up his mind on the next two, although he's leaning toward Suleymanoglu, the Turkish "Pocket Hercules'' who demolished the world record at the Atlanta Games, for second.

With his links to the BTFA, Benjamin concedes he has a slight bias to track and field athletes. "But I try as much a possible to take more than just a cursory glance at what's going on around the world,'' he said.

This year was easier because of the exposure amateur sports got at the Olympics, said Benjamin, who was last week returned as a vice president of the Bermuda Olympic Association.

Benjamin was first invited to join the blue ribbon panel of judges in 1982, after making a presentation during an athletic conference in Italy. He doesn't know how many other voters there are: Panelists never see each other.

"Your continued support and participation as an elector is a crucial part in this event and we are dependent upon your cooperation in selecting the most outstanding athlete of 1996,'' balloting coordinator Donna De Varona said in a letter to Benjamin, the lone Bermudian with a vote.

For his part, Benjamin takes the decision seriously.

He calls it "an honour'' to be involved in such a prestigious award and finds his participation a reward for the effort he puts into amateur sports.

"Every year when I get the letter (from the IAAA), it sends a ripple up and down my spine,'' he said.

Randy Benjamin AWARD AWD