WORLD 100 METRES record holder Asafa Powell and this season's fastest woman, Sherone Simpson, have been nominated for the 2006 International Association of Athletics Federations' (IAAF) Performance of the Year award.

Powell is listed among 11 contenders in the men's category, while Simpson and nine other women are vying for the title. The winners will be announced along with the 2006 World Athlete of the Year (man and woman) at the World Athletics Gala in Monaco on November 12.

The nominees for the 2006 Performance of the Year have been selected by a panel of IAAF experts and the winners will be decided by a special jury of the foundation.

Powell was nominated for equalling his own world record of 9.77 in Zürich, which matched the same performance in Gateshead just over a month before.

Meanwhile, Simpson's nomination came after winning the 100m in 10.89 at the World Athletics final.

The two Jamaicans are also vying for the male and female athletes of the Year.

NOMINEES

MALE: Powell (Jamaica), Kenenisa Bekele (Ethiopia), Xavier Carter (U.S.), Francisco Javier Fernandez (Spain), Haile Gebrselassie (Ethiopia), Christian Olsson (Sweden), Irving Saladino (Panama), Saif Saaeed Shaheen (Qatar), Andreas Thorkildsen (Norway), Jeremy Wariner (U.S.), Liu Xiang (China) are the other male athletes.

female: Simpson (Jamaica), Kajsa Bergqvist (Sweden), Meseret Defar (Ethiopia), Tia Hellebaut (Belarus), Janet Jepkosgei (Kenya), Lornah Kiplagat (Netherlands), Carolina Klüft (Sweden), Gulfiya Khanafeyeva (Russia), Tatyana Lysenko (Russia), and Sanya Richards (U.S.).