Paralympic Sport Awards

Christian Egli receiving the Paralympic Award for Best Official from IPC Governing Board Member Rita van Driel during the 2011 Paralympic Awards Gala in Beijing, China © • IPC Kojin Nakakita, coach of the Japan Ice Sledge Hockey Team receives the Paralympic Award for Best Team during the 2011 Paralympic Awards Gala in Beijing, China © • IPC

Related Videos

Paralympic Awards 2011 - Best Female Athlete Verena Bentele

Paralympic Awards 2011 - Best Male Athlete Gerd Schoenfelder

Paralympic Awards 2011 - Best Team Performance

Paralympic Awards 2011 - Best Games Debut Oleksandra Kononova

Related Press Releases

Verena Bentele Named Best Female Athlete by IPC

Germany’s Schoenfelder Tabbed Best Male Athlete by IPC Voters

Japan’s Ice Sledge Hockey Squad Wins IPC’s Best Team Award

Switzerland’s Egli Wins IPC’s Exemplary Paralympic Games Official Award

Ukraine’s Kononova Awarded IPC’s Best Paralympic Games Debut

Paralympic Sport Awards honour top athletes and officials, recognizing their achievements from the most recent Paralympic Games. There are five award categories: Best Male Athlete, Best Female Athlete, Best Team Performance, Best Paralympic Games Debut and Exemplary Paralympic Games Official. All National Paralympic Committees and International Paralympic Sports Federations are eligible to submit nominations. For a list of past award winners click here.

Paralympic Sport Awards 2013

The 2013 awards will be presented on 23 November in Athens, Greece. A record number of entries have been received this year and the shortlist for each of the following categories will be announced on 4 September 2013.

- Best Female Athlete

- Best Male Athlete

- Best Female Games Debut

- Best Male Games Debut

- Best Team Performance

- Best Official

Paralympic Sport Awards 2011

Best Male Athlete

The German Alpine Skiier Gerd Schoenfelder took home four golds and one silver in his sixth and final Paralympic Games in Vancouver. In a glittering career he won 22 Paralympic medals, including 16 golds.

Best Female Athlete

Verena Bentele, a German visually impaired Nordic Skier, won five gold medals in as many races at the Vancouver 2010 Paralympic Winter Games. She stood atop the podium in Biathlon (3km Pursuit, 12.5km Pursuit) and Cross-Country Skiing (15km Freestyle, 5km Classic Style, Sprint Classic Style), taking her total Paralympic Games medal count to 16, including an impressive 12 golds.

In 2011 she retired as the most successful Paralympic biathlete ever.

Best Team Performance

Despite losing 2-0 to USA in the gold medal match, Japan's Ice Sledge Hockey Team picked up an unlikely silver medal in Ice Sledge Hockey. The team caused a huge upset in the semi-finals beating hosts and competition favourites Canada 3-1.

Best Games Debut

Aged 19 at the time of the Vancouver Games, Ukranian Oleksandra Kononova won three gold medals and one silver in Biathlon and Cross Country Skiing events.

Best Official

As the IPC Technical Delegate for Cross Country Skiing and an assistant for Biathlon, Christian Egli helped develop the sit-ski sprint course for the Vancouver 2010 Paralympic Winter Games and contributed to the newly created IPC Nordic Skiing points system.

Paralympic Sport Awards 2009

Best Male Athlete

Australian Swimmer Matthew Cowdery (S9) won a total of eight Paralympic medals at the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games. He won four individual gold medals and five overall each in world record times as well as three silver medals. His performances far surpassed his expectations and he particularly enjoyed the 50m freestyle and the 4x100m medley relay.

Best Female Athlete

In her final Paralympic Games, Canada's Chantal Petitclerc (T54) won five gold medals covering distances from 100m to 1,500m despite facing a deep and talented field featuring many emerging Paralympic stars. Once again she rewrote the record book breaking three world and four Paralympic records. Petitclerc retired having won an impressive 21 Paralympic medals, including 14 gold, during a glittering career.

Best Team Performance

Australia's Men's Wheelchair Basketball Team, called the Rollers, upset the odds in Beijing beating reigning Paralympic and World Champions Canada in the gold medal match 72-60.

Best Games Debut

New Zealand's Sophie Pascoe (S10) made an outstanding debut at the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games winning three gold and one silver medal in Swimming events. Aged just 15 she was the youngest New Zealand athlete ever to win a medal at a Paralympics.

Best Team Official

As China's Chef-de-Mission at the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games, Wang Xinxian’s contributions were outstanding. He not only supported the preparations of the Beijing Games with his expertise in finances and human resources, he also ensured the participation of Chinese Paralympic athletes in all 20 Paralympic sports.

Paralympic Sport Awards 2007

Best Male Athlete

Canada's Nordic Skier Brian McKeever (B3) won two gold, one silver and one bronze medal at the Torino Paralympic Games, bringing his career total of Paralympic medals to seven.

Best Female Athlete

Canadian Alpine Skier Lauren Woolstencroft (LW1-9) was one of the stars at the Torino 2006 Paralympic Winter Games, winning one gold and one silver medal. She had already won a total of six Paralympic medals in her young career, including three gold. She has also been the overall leader in World Cup standings over the last number of years, winning numerous World Cup events, World Championship medals and World Cup overall titles.

Best Team Performance

The Canadian Ice Sledge Hockey Team struck gold at the Torino 2006 Paralympic Games, the country's first gold in the sport, with a 3-0 Final victory over Norway. The gold medal completed the Paralympic medal set for Canada in this sport, following bronze in Lillehammer 1994 and silver in Nagano 1998. In total, four veteran athletes of the Torino team participated on each of these teams.

Best Games Debut

Swiss athlete Thomas Pfyl (LW 9-2) made an outstanding debut at the Tornio 2006 Paralympic Winter Games claiming one gold and one silver medal in the Alpine Skiing events. In addition, he topped the overall European Cup ranking in 2005/2006 as well as the World Cup ranking in 2007.

Best Games Official

At the Torino 2006 Paralympic Games, Karl Quade of Germany once again did an excellent job as Chef de Mission of the German Paralympic Team, adding another item to his long lists of outstanding contributions to the Paralympic Movement.

Paralympic Sport Awards 2005

Best Male Athlete

Brazilian swimmer Clodoaldo Silva (S4) was in superb form at the Athens 2004 Paralympic Games winning six gold medals and a silver. He also set four world and five Paralympic records. During the Brazilian trials for the Games he broke all his personal bests and established two new world records.

Best Female Athlete

Japan's Mayumi Narita (SB3/SM4/S4) performances at the Athens 2004 Paralympic Games were outstanding, with her emerging as the most decorated athlete of the Paralympics. Narita won seven gold medals and a bronze in the swimming pool, and also set six world and seven Paralympic records.

Best Team Performance

Canada’s Men’s Wheelchair Basketball Team was a dominant force at the Athens 2004 Paralympic Games, completing an undefeated march to win the gold medal, defending their golden performance in Sydney 2000. The repeat Paralympic competition was even more convincing, as the Canadian Team outscored their competition by an average of 24 points per game and was never really threatened throughout the tournament.

Best Games Debut

Hong Kong's Wheelchair Fencer Chui Lee Yu made an impressive debut at the Athens 2004 Paralympic Games as her excellent performance not only won her two gold medals in individual events but also helped her team to capture two gold medals.

Best Official

At the Athens 2004 Paralympic Games Jonquil Solt of Great Britain, Chairperson of the International Paralympic Equestrian Committee (IPEC), proved to be a calm but persistent and very enthusiastic leader who exercised sound judgment and compassion, demonstrated at various occasions. She succeeded in resolving difficult situations in an exceptional manner, admired by athletes, officials and members: