In the meantime David Rudisha, has been nominated for the male athlete-of-the-year for the third year in a row.
Rudisha won the accolade in 2010 and was a finalist last year when Bolt reclaimed the top honour.
Rudisha was cited for the top award for winning the Olympic 800m gold in a world record time of 1 minute 40.91 seconds without a pacemaker.
The winners will be announced on November 24 in Barcelona during the centenary celebrations of IAAF.
Bolt’s compatriot Yohan Blake and British double distance London winner, Mo Farah, decathlon gold medallist, Ashton Eaton of the USA and German discus Olympic and European titleholder, Robert Harting also made the men’s list.
London winners Kirani James (400m), Renaud Lavillenie (pole vault/France), Aries Meritt (110m hurdles/USA) and Christian Taylor (triple jump/USA) complete the men’s list.
On the women’s side former winner, Tirunesh Dibaba returns to the nominee list after two seasons following her third Olympic triumph in London. She is joined by 100m-hurdler, Sally Pearson who also left London with the gold medal.
Completing the women’s nominees are: Valerie Adams (shot put/New Zealand), Jessica Ennis (heptathlon/Britain), Allyson Felix (200m/USA), Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce (100m and 200m/Jamaica), Yelena Lashmanova (20km race walking/Russia), Brittney Reese (long jump/USA), Sanya Richard-Ross (400m/USA) and Barbora Spotakova (javelin/Czech Republic)
Tags: iaaf, jamaica, male athlete of the year, olympics, usain bolt