Liu Xiang, Yao Ming and Yang Wei feature prominently on Xinhua News Agency's list of the top ten Chinese athletes in 2006.

Olympic champion sprinter Liu Xiang topped the list for his outstanding achievements, like setting a new world record by completing the 110m hurdles in 12.88 seconds at the Lausanne Athletics Grand Prix in July.

Yao Ming, the giant center for the Houston Rockets, came second. He scored an average of 25.3 points and nine rebounds and led China into the top 16 at the World Basketball Championships. His on-par performance also got the Rockets off to a flying start in the 2006-2007 NBA season.

Next up is China's first Olympic skiing gold medalist, Han Xiaopeng, and national gymnastics legend Yang Wei. She swept three golds in the World Championships and four golds in the Asian Games.

Other athletes who made the grade are Wang Meng (short track speed skating), Ding Junhui (snooker), Zheng Jie and Yan Zi (tennis), Wang Lei (fencing), Wu Peng (swimming) and Chen Yanqing (weightlifting).