国际田联2006年度世界最佳男女田径选手民意投票活动继续进行，中国炙手可热的奥运明星刘翔的得票率下滑，截至北京时间昨天中午，刘翔已经由11日的第一位下落至第三。目前拉脱维亚铅球奥运冠军阿莱克纳以38.21%的得票率位居榜首，短跑名将鲍威尔以22.65%居第二。经过网上投票和国际田联成员的投票，排名男女前三位的选手将入围，经过国际田径基金会特别评审团的综合考评后，将有一名选手成为年度最佳。 相关链接：刘翔称雄国际田联大奖赛总决赛

Liu Xiang of China celebrates setting a new world record in the men's 110-metre race at the IAAF Super Grand Prix athletics meeting in Lausanne July 11, 2006. Liu won the race in a world record time of 12.88 seconds.[File Photo/Reuters] 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 Monday. 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 percent 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 percent. He is followed by sprinter Asafa Powell of Jamaica with 22.65 percent. 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. (Agencies)

Vocabulary:

ace: 一流的，佼佼者 World Athlete of the Year: 年度世界最佳运动员 Olympic discus throw champion: 铅球奥运冠军 sprinter: 赛跑选手，常用来指短跑选手 shortlist ：入围决选的（候选人） （英语点津陈蓓编辑）