The IAAF's new track and field series, the Diamond League, should get off to a strong start in 2010 as numerous top competitors have already committed to the series, including Kenenisa Bekele, Usain Bolt, Tyson Gay, Steven Hooker, Yelena Isinbayeva, Asafa Powell, Sanya Richards, Andreas Thorkildsen and Blanka Vlasic.

The Diamond League schedule will include 14 meets across Europe, Asia and North America, featuring most of the standard individual Olympic track and field events, with a few exceptions. Diamond League athletes won't compete in the hammer throw, decathlon or heptathlon, nor in any distance race of more than 5,000 meters. Each event will take place seven times during the 14-meet season, with the top three finishers in those events earning points toward a season championship.

The league is designed to encourage more competition among elite performers during the season. For example, top sprinters Bolt and Gay only went head-to-head once in 2009, at the World Championship. With both having committed to the Diamond League, they'll likely face off several times in 2010. This is particularly good news for next year, the one season in four in which there is no major outdoor championship meet.

The initial Diamond League season begins May 14 in Doha, Qatar and ends Aug. 27 in Brussels, Belgium.

Photo: Tyson Gay and Usain Bolt. Getty Images

As expected, Usain Bolt was named male Athlete of the Year at the IAAF World Athletics Gala in Monaco Sunday. Sanya Richards won the women's title while Richards' coach, Clyde Hart, was named coach of the year.

Bolt's honor merely affirmed his dominance of men's sprinting the past two years, during which he's broken individual records five times in the 100 and 200 and helped Jamaica break the world 4 x 100 relay mark at the 2008 Olympics.

Any of the five women's nominees would've been a worthy choice, but Richards' selection shouldn't cause much controversy. The American won her first World Championship individual gold medal in Berlin as she literally ran away with the 400 meters, then added a second gold in the 4 x 400 relay. She posted seven of the world's top ten times in 2009, including a season's best 48.83 in April, and added a fifth consecutive World Athletics Final title to her resume in September.

Hart's name may be lesser-known by the general public but it's both well-known and well-respected in the track and field community. He was the head coach at Baylor University for 42 years and is best known for coaching sprinters such as Michael Johnson, Richards and Jeremy Wariner to Olympic and World Championship gold medals.

Photo: Usain Bolt and Sanya Richards display their Athlete of the Year trophies.  Michael Steele, Getty Images

The 2009 World Athletes of the Year will be announced Sunday at the World Athletics Gala in Monaco. There's little doubt that Usain Bolt will repeat as the male Athlete of the Year on the strength of his record-breaking performance at the World Championships. But the women's award is another matter.

Finalists include the defending champion and three-time winner, Yelena Isinbayeva, along with Sanya Richards, Valerie Vili, Blanka Vlasic and Anita Wlodarczyk. Isinbayeva broke her own indoor and outdoor pole vault records this season. However, not only did she not take the gold at the World Championships, but she no-heighted. Can she be called the greatest athlete of the year when she fell flat at the year's premier event?

Wlodarczyk set a world mark while winning the hammer throw at Berlin. The other three also won world championships, with Richards, the 2006 Athlete of the Year, winning golds in the 400 and the 4 x 400 relay, and Vlasic posting eight of the year's top ten jumps, including the second-best of all time.

But if the award is for the most dominating athlete of 2009, my vote would go to Vili. The New Zealander was undefeated this year, winning the World Championship and the World Athletics Final, where she threw a personal best 21.07 meters (69 feet, 1 inch), the third-best effort dating back to 2000. Vili owns the year's top six throws and 10 of the top 12. Working against her is the fact that no thrower has ever won the women's award, while just two (javelin throwers Steve Backley and Jan Zelezny) have won on the men's side. Perhaps that bias will end this Sunday.

Photo: Valerie Vili shows off her gold medal at the 2009 World Championships. Stu Forster/Getty Images

Liu Xiang's comeback from his foot injury began well in September he ran the 110 hurdles in 13.15 seconds, finishing a fraction of a second behind Terrence Trammell. The ability to run stride-for-stride with the World Championship silver medalist seemed a good indication that Liu, the 2004 Olympic gold medalist, would again be competitive with the world's top sprint hurdlers. But it was only one race, and questions remained about his surgically-repaired Achilles tendon. Would it hold up under the rigors of full-time training and competition? Could he maintain his world class speed?

Liu's subsequent races, both run in poor weather, haven't answered those questions. He won his second race of the year in13.34 - running into a .9 meters-per-second wind - in October. He won again yesterday (Nov. 12), earning a gold medal at the Asian Championships. He was clocked in just 13.50 but competed in the rain, and slowed at the end when his victory was assured.

Liu's personal best is 12.88, a then-world record set in 2006. The best he managed during his injury-shortened 2008 season was 13.18. This year's world best is held by current world record-holder Dayron Robles (13.04). Again, Liu's 13.15 from this season is the best indicator that he is, literally, back on track.

Looking ahead to next year, fans of the 110 hurdles are eagerly awaiting a race between a fully healthy Liu and Robles. Such a match-up is likely at some point in 2010, but with no major outdoor championship on the calendar, it's not guaranteed.

The indoor season is another matter. Will the two go head-to-head in the 60-meter hurdles at the World Indoor Championships next March? Liu is the defending World Indoor champ, while Robles didn't make the final in the 2008 competition. Robles, however, owns a 60-meter personal best of 7.33 seconds, compared to Liu's 7.42.

The next major outdoor event is the 2011 World Championships. By then Liu will be 28, while Robles will be a few months shy of 25. Track fans can only hope that both will be in top shape for that race, and for other showdowns in the next few years.

Photo: Dayron Robles and Liu Xiang at the 2008 World Indoor Championships. Stu Forster/Getty Images