Vote for December’s Allianz Athlete of the Month

These athletes closed 2018 with stunning performances 11 Jan 2019

five Para athletes competing in boccia, wheelchair tennis, wheelchair fencing, powerlifting and Nordic skiing

(Clockwise from top left) de Groot, Castaneda, Khetsuriani, Nilsen and Saengampa are in the running for December's award

By IPC

The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) has revealed the shortlist for December’s Allianz Athlete of the Month, and the public can now vote for the winner on our homepage.

The nominations are:

Jhon Castaneda, powerlifting, Colombia

Castaneda set an Americas record of 212kg in the men’s over 107kg on his way to gold in his home Americas Open Championships.

Diede de Groot, wheelchair tennis, Netherlands

The world No.1 won all five of her matches at the year-end NEC Masters without dropping a set in either the round-robin or knockout phases. She beat Japan’s world No. 2 Yui Kamiji in a repeat of last year's final to retain her women's singles title.

Irma Khetsuriani, wheelchair fencing, Georgia

The Worlds gold medallist won an incredible fifth final of the year in the women’s sabre category B at the World Cup in Kyoto, Japan. It was the second competition in the qualification process toward the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics.

Vilde Nilsen, Nordic skiing, Norway

The 17-year-old swept all three cross-country women’s standing races in Voukatti, Finland, and also claimed silvers in the biathlon spring and class start.

Worawut Saengampa, boccia, Thailand

World No. 1 rounded off an incredible year at the season-ending Dubai World Open, where he won both his BC2 individual and team events. Earlier in December, he also won team gold and individual silver at the Chinese Taipei Open.

The public has until 12:00 (CEST) on Friday (18 January) to vote for the athlete they want to be the Allianz Athlete of the Month for December 2018 via the International Paralympic Committee homepage.

The nominations are compiled from submissions by National Paralympic Committees (NPCs) and International Federations (IFs).

The 2018 winners are:

January – Oksana Masters, USA, Nordic skiing

February – Mac Marcoux, CAN, alpine skiing

March (Best Male) – Brian McKeever, CAN, Nordic skiing

March (Best Female) – Ekaterina Rumyantseva, NPA, Nordic skiing

March (Best Team) – Chinese wheelchair curling team

April – Gemma Collis-McCann, GBR, wheelchair fencing

May – Sareh Javanmardi, IRI, shooting

June – Sevda Altunoluk, TUR, goalball

July – Morteza Mehrzadselakjani, IRI, sitting volleyball

August – Greg Polychronidis, GRE, boccia