He holds the world record of 9.58 seconds in the 100 and 19.19 in the 200.
Kenya's 5,000m victor Hellen Obiri, Australia's 100m hurdles gold medallist Sally Pearson and South African 800m champion Caster Semenya are the other track nominees on the shortlist.
Gatlin, 35, shocked Usain Bolt in 100m finals at the World Athletics Championships in August, the Jamaican's swan song of a glittering career.
The list of 10 men and 10 women nominees were selected by an global panel.
There will be a first-time victor of the men's award, with six-times victor Usain Bolt not shortlisted.
The winners will be announced at the athletics awards on November 24.
The female nominees include Almaz Ayana of Ethiopia, Maria Lasitskene who is an Authorised Neutral Athlete (ANA), Hellen Obiri of Kenya, Sally Pearson of Australia and Sandra Perkovic of Croatia.
The finalists will be determined through a three-way voting process involving the IAAF Council, the IAAF Family, and track and field fans.
The 31-year-old won the award last year following his double sprint triumph in Rio and has only failed to win the award twice since 2008 - the year he burst onto the scene at the Beijing Olympics.
The nominees are: Men: Mutaz Essa Barshim (Qatar)‚ Pawel Fajdek (Poland)‚ Mohamed Farah (UK)‚ Sam Kendricks (US)‚ Elijah Manangoi (Kenya)‚ Luvo Manyonga (SA)‚ Omar McLeod (Jamaica)‚ Christian Taylor (US)‚ Wayde van Niekerk (SA)‚ Johannes Vetter (Germany).
Individual graphics for each nominee will be posted on social media platforms, Facebook and Twitter, later this week, with a "like" or "favourite" counting as one vote. The IAAF Council's vote will count for 50 per cent of the result, with the IAAF Family and public votes accounting for 25 per cent each. At the conclusion of the voting process, three men and three women finalists will be announced by the IAAF.
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