IPC Reveals May’s Athlete of the Month Shortlist

Nominations for May's Athlete of the Month award include a sprinter, discus thrower, Wheelchair Tennis player and four teams 04 Jun 2012

Germany's women's wheelchair basketball team had a standout performance at the BT Paralympic World Cup.

ⒸIPC

Last month’s award was won by Israeli Swimmer Itzhak Mamistvalov

The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) has announced its shortlist for May’s Athlete of the Month award, and the public can now vote for the winner via the poll on the homepage.

The finalists include:

Graeme Ballard (Great Britain)

The sprinter became a crowd favourite during the first race of the BT Paralympic World Cup in Manchester, UK, when he set a new world record in the 100m T36 sprint with a time of 11.98. He then later won the 200m with a mark of 25.12.

Finland’s women’s Goalball team

They won the Malmo Lady Intercup in May, beating USA 3-0 in the finals.

USA men's Wheelchair Basketball team

USA reigned supreme at the BT Paralympic World Cup handing host nation Great Britain a 61-57 defeat. Jason Nelms was virtually unstoppable for the Americans, lighting up the scoreboard with 17 points, Joe Chambers added 14 and the American bench contributed a whopping 26.

Brazil Football 7-a-Side team

The Brazilian favourites triumphed to defeat Great Britain, 4-2, in the gold-medal game at the BT Paralympic World Cup.

Germany women's Wheelchair Basketball team

The team won a thrilling 47-40 victory over Australia at the BT Paralympic World Cup. Marina Mohen was firing on all cylinders from beginning to end for Germany, as she racked up 37 points and 12 defensive rebounds to carry her team to the title.

Jeremy Campbell (USA)

The men’s F44/42 Discus thrower set a new world-record distance of 62.18m en route to defeating British favourite Dan Greaves at the BT Paralympic World Cup.

Gustavo Fernandez (Argentina)

The ParaPan American gold-medallist and No. 1 junior player won the Japan Open Super Series event on the NEC Wheelchair Tennis Tour beating the world No. 1, 2 and 4. Fernandez had never reached a Super Series semi-final before.

The public now has until 12:00 (CET) on 11 June 2012 to vote for which athlete or team it thought had the best performance last month on the para-sport scene.

So far this year three monthly winners have come from Russia. They include nordic skiers Roman Petushkov and Nikolay Polukhin as well as wheelchair curler Oksana Slesarenko. Last month’s award was won by Israeli Swimmer Itzhak Mamistvalov.

To vote, visit the homepage on paralympic.org