Declan Farmer becomes first Para ice hockey player nominated to Laureus Awards

USA’s three-time Paralympic champion Declan Farmer has become the first-ever Para ice hockey player to be nominated to the prestigious Laureus World Sportsperson of the Year with a Disability Award. 

Farmer is a nominee alongside Swiss wheelchair racer Catherine Debrunner, New Zealand’s Para swimmer and wheelchair rugby player Cameron Leslie, Dutch wheelchair tennis player Diede De Groot, Norway's Para alpine skier Jesper Saltvik Pedersen, and US Para Nordic skier and cyclist Oksana Masters.

The Laureus World Sports Academy announced the six candidates on Monday, 20 February, with the winner set to be revealed at a special awards ceremony held in the European spring.

In his third Paralympic Games appearance, Farmer helped lead the U.S. Para ice hockey team during the Beijing 2022 Paralympic Winter Games to its fourth consecutive gold medal.

He had a tournament leading 18 points (including three in the final), setting the U.S. records for the most points and most assists in any single Paralympic Winter Games tournament.  

In doing so he set records for the most career points, the most career assists, and the most career goals in U.S. Para ice hockey Paralympic Winter Games history. 

Recognised for his accomplishments in 2022, Farmer was the first Para athlete to be nominated as “Best Athlete Olympian, Men’s Sports” alongside his Olympic counterparts at the United States’ preeminent athletic awards show, the Excellence in Sports Performance Yearly awards.

Farmer was born a bilateral amputee and has been playing Para ice hockey since the age of 9 after he first tried the sport at a clinic in Florida in 2006.

You can find more information about the 2023 Laureus Awards here.