Chinese ace Liu Xiang, the men's 110-meter hurdles world record holder, fell off to the third place on internet poll for the World Athlete of the Year award on Tuesday (Oct 24th).

Liu, who came to spotlight this year by breaking the world record with a storming 12.88 seconds in Lausanne, Switzerland, has taken up 20.17% of the total votes cast via internet, compared with an initially leading percentage of 56.18 when the poll started on October 11, said the IAAF on its official website.

Olympic discus throw champion Virgilijus Alekna from Lithuania tops the ten-strong poll with 38.21%. He is followed by sprinter Asafa Powell of Jamaica with 22.65%.

The ten-man shortlist, which was revealed on October 11 by the IAAF, also includes the likes of long distance runner Kenenisa Bekele of Ethiopia and American sprinter Tyson Gay.

The top three out of the ten athletes will 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 winner at the 2006 IAAF World Athletics Gala in Monaco on November 12.

Editor: Donald