Monaco MON - The IAAF is giving you the unique chance to help select the 2006 World Athlete of the Year.

With the vote now open it will take just one click to pick your choice of Athlete of the Year (Man and Woman) from the Top 10 in the IAAF Overall World Rankings as at 2 October. With the help of your votes, which will be added to a poll of IAAF Athletics Family members, a shortlist of 3 will then be presented to a Special Jury of the International Athletic Foundation, who will then make a final selection of Athlete of the Year and announce the winners, live on stage, at the 2006 IAAF World Athletics Gala in Monaco on 12 November.

Candidates for the World Athlete of the Year Awards

Athletes listed in alphabetical order

Men

Virgilijus Alekna (LTU)

Kenenisa Bekele (ETH)

Tyson Gay (USA)

Asafa Powell (JAM)

Irving Saladino (PAN)

Saif Saaeed Shaheen (QAT)

Isaac Kiprono Songok (KEN)

Andreas Thorkildsen (NOR)

Jeremy Wariner (USA)

Liu Xiang (CHN)

Women

Kajsa Bergqvist (SWE)

Meseret Defar (ETH)

Tirunesh Dibaba (ETH)

Yuliya Chizhenko (RUS)

Lashinda Demus (USA)

Yelena Isinbayeva (RUS)

Tatyana Lebedeva (RUS)

Michelle Perry (USA)

Sanya Richards (USA)

Sherone Simpson (JAM)