The vote for European Athlete of the Year awards has been opened by the EAA with 20 men and 20 women nominated.
The athletes, including 20 Olympic champions and three world record holders, have been named on www.european-athletics.org, where there is a public vote which accounts for a third of the result.
The remaining votes will be cast by EAA Member Federations and the media.
The male candidates are: Christian Olsson (Sweden), Roman Sebrle (Czech Republic), Stefan Holm (Sweden), Francis Obikwelu (Portugal), Virgilijus Alekna (Lithuania), Stefano Baldini (Italy), Yuriy Belonog (Ukraine), Yuriy Borzakovskiy (Russia), Ivano Brugnetti (Italy), Francisco Javier Fernandez (Spain), Ivan Heshko (Ukraine), Robert Korzeniowski (Poland), Zoltan Kovago (Hungary), Denis Nizhegorodov (Russia), Joachim Olsen (Denmark), Marian Oprea (Romania), Rui Silva (Portugal), Andreas Thorkildsen (Norway), Ivan Tikhon (Belarus), Vadims Vasilevskis (Latvia).
The female nominees are: Svetlana Feofanova (Russia), Kelly Holmes (Great Britain), Yelena Isinbayeva (Russia), Carolina Kluft (Sweden), Fani Halkia (Greece), Elvan Abeylegesse (Turkey), Olimpiada Ivanova (Russia), Yelena Krasovska (Ukraine), Olga Kuzenkova, Tatyana Lebedeva (both Russia), Steffi Nerius (Germany), Yuliya Nesterenko (Belarus), Paula Radcliffe (Great Britain), Natalya Sadova, Gulnara Samitova, Irina Simagina (all Russia), Austra Skujyte (Lithuania), Yelena Slesarenko, Tatyana Tomashova (both Russia), Athanasia Tsoumeleka (Greece).