Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt of Jamaica and Russian pole vaulter Yelena Isinbayeva won the IAAF World Athlete of the Year awards on Sunday.
Bolt set world records in the 100 and 200 metres at the Beijing Games in August, and his third gold medal came in Jamaica's 400 relay, also a world record.
He is the first man to win the three Olympic events in a single Games since Carl Lewis in 1984.
Isinbayeva successfully defended her Olympic title and remained undefeated in outdoor competitions in 2008.
Bolt will be remembered for his archer-like signature victory pose and for running 9.69 seconds in the 100 final to break the world record mark despite easing off 15 metres from the finish line and beating his chest in joy.
By contrast, the Jamaican had to run to the line to beat Michael Johnson's 200 mark by two hundredths of a second, crossing in 19.30.
Isinbayeva cleared 5.05 metres in Beijing to set her 24th career world record and retain the Olympic title.
Cuban hurdler Dayron Robles and Ethiopian long-distance runner Kenenisa Bekele were the other contenders in the men's category, while Tirunesh Dibaba of Ethiopia and Kenyan teenager Pamela Jelimo were nominated on the women's side.
All the contenders won Olympic gold and achieved extraordinary feats.
Robles broke the world record in the 110 hurdles, Jelimo collected the $US1 million ($A1.64 million) Golden League jackpot, and Bekele and Dibaba remained undefeated throughout 2008.
Robles won the men's Performance of the Year award for running 12.87 to set a world record in June in Ostrava, Czech Republic.
Dibaba and Czech javelin thrower Barbora Spotakova shared the women's award.
Dibaba ran 14:11.15 to smash the world record in the 5,000 by more than five seconds in Oslo on June 6, while Spotakova threw 72.28 metres in Stuttgart in September to improve the world mark by 58 centimetres.
