Monaco - South African 400m world record holder Wayde van Niekerk is one of the favourites to walk away with the men's World Athlete of the Year award in December.
Van Niekerk, 24, became the Olympic champion with his 43.03 seconds world record in the 400m final. His record eclipsed the mark set by American Michael Johnson of 43.18 which had stood since 1999.
The sprinter was unbeaten in 11 finals across three events this season. He is also the African champion at 200m and 4x100m. Van Niekerk's other season's best include 9.98 in the 100m and 20.02 in the 200m. Van Niekerk, however, is just one of four Africans up for the top award.
Kenya's Eliud Kipchoge won the men's marathon as well as the London Marathon this year. He has a remarkable season's best of 2:03:05 - a mere eight seconds off the world record - in the 42.2km event.
Another Kenyan Conseslus Kipruto took top honours in the 3 000m steeplechase. He has run the best time of 8:00.12 this year and won seven out of eight finals he has competed in. In the men's 800m, Kenya's David Rudisha completed a phenomenal Olympic gold defence in Rio.
Following up his gold in London in 2012, Rudisha devastated the field in the final 250m of his race to win gold in a time of 1:42.15 - also the fastest in the world this year. One of the favourites for the award, however, will be Jamaica's Usain Bolt. The 30-year-old broke new ground in completing the 'triple-triple' in Rio by winning the 100m, 200m and 4x100m relay. Bolt won the same events in the previous two editions of the Olympics.
The IAAF Council and the IAAF 'Family' will cast their votes by email, while fans can vote online via the IAAF's social media platforms. Individual graphics for each nominee will be posted on Facebook and Twitter later this week; a 'like' or 'favourite' will count as one vote.
The IAAF Council's vote will count for 50 percent of the result, while the IAAF Family's votes and the public votes will each count for 25 percent of the final result. Voting closes on November 1. At the conclusion of the voting process, three men and three women finalists will be announced by the IAAF, with the winner announced in Monaco on December 2.
The male and female World Athletes of the Year will be announced live on stage at the IAAF Athletics Awards 2016.
African News Agency