World and Olympic track cycling champion Anna Meares can add the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) athlete of the year award to her growing list of achievements in 2011.

Cycling dominated the awards with four of the five AIS honours presented in Canberra on Thursday night.

Other cyclists to receive AIS awards were men's under-23 road time trial champion Luke Durbridge (junior athlete), AIS cycling was program of the year and Kaarle McCulloch and Meares team of the year for their track cycling team sprint world title.

Meares' award culminates a year where the Queenslander won three world track titles in the Netherlands, including her first women's sprint gold medal as well as for the keirin and team sprint events.

The 28-year-old won the women's 500 metres time trial at the 2004 Olympic Games before silver in the women's sprint four years later in Beijing.

Her silver medal in Beijing occurred seven months after a crash left Meares within millimetres of becoming a quadriplegic.

"To have an athlete of the stature of Anna winning this award highlights the importance of the AIS and all our institutes and academies working with national sporting organisations to develop our elite talent," sports minister Mark Arbib said.

This was the second time Meares had received the AIS accolade after being a joint athlete of the year with walker Nathan Deakes in 2007.

Senator Arbib said it was inspiring to see many successful Australian athletes on the world stage ahead of the 2012 Olympic Summer Games in London.

He said Australian cycling had a fantastic 2011, which reflected the sport's domination at the AIS awards.

"This is a credit to the AIS cycling program for their drive and commitment working in partnership with Cycling Australia to enable athletes to succeed in reaching their goals," Arbib said.