The IAAF on Sunday named Jamaican sprinter Asafa Powell and American 400-meter runner Sanya Richards as World Athletes of the Year in Monte Carlo, Monaco, The Associated Press reports.

Jamaican sprinter Asafa Powell, right, and U.S. 400-meter runner Sanya Richards hold their Athlete of the Year Awards on November 12, 2006.[sina.com]

Powell won the men's title after twice equaling his world record of 9.77 seconds in the 100 meters, while Richards broke the longstanding American 400-meter record held by Valerie Brisco, according to the AP report.

Also on the men's list were Lithuanian discus thrower Virgilijus Alekna and hurdler Liu Xiang of China.

Liu won the IAAF performance of the year with a new 110-meter world record of 12.88 at the Super Grand Prix in Lausanne in July. It was .03 better than the time he ran to win gold at the 2004 Athens Olympics.

Richards wants the 200-400 Olympic double in Beijing in 2008. That feat has only been achieved by Brisco in 1984 and France's Marie-Jose Perec in Atlanta in 1996, the AP says.

Richards won the women's title over Jamaican sprinter Sherone Simpson and Ethiopian distance runner Meseret Defar, the Olympic champion in 5,000 meters.

Defar's 5,000-meter world record of 14 minutes, 24.53 seconds at the Reebok Grand Prix in New York in June earned her the women's performance of the year.