2021 Paralympic Sport Awards: Best Official nominees

The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) has announced the nominees who have made the shortlist in the Best Official category for the 2021 Paralympic Sport Awards, recognising the achievements from the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games.

The winner will be announced at the Awards Ceremony, which will be streamed live on the IPC’s YouTube Channel and Facebook page at 4pm CET on 16 December. ‘A Winning Mindset’ Paralympic podcast host Andy Stevenson and Australian Paralympic swimming legend Ellie Cole will host the Ceremony.

The shortlist for the Best Official category is as follows:

Dr Anja Hirschmueller (Germany – doctor)    
Anja was the lead medical official for the German team looking after a team of eight medical directors and 19 physios. Her most notable contribution to the Games was that she helped save the life of Belgian tennis player Joachim Gerard – she provided his initial medical response and resuscitation following the player’s cardiac arrest in the Paralympic Village. 

Ayumi Nomoto (Japan – Head Table Official, Wheelchair Rugby)    
Ayumi looked after rehabilitation of COVID-19 patients prior to the Games and performed to a high-standard in the Games.

Click here and change your settings to allow marketing cookies to view this content

Penny Briscoe (Great Britain – Chef de Mission)    
Penny was a member of IPC’s NPC Expert Group supporting preparations for the Games and made significant contributions to key meetings and document development, including Playbooks. She promoted collaboration to support development of the movement – establishing a CdM ‘5 eyes’ group, and provided informal mentoring support throughout the cycle. She demonstrated her commitment to ensuring transition to Paralympic Games mode was successful and showed decisive leadership action during a serious in-village incident where a Japanese athlete was injured. Great Britain finished second in medal team, winning medals across more sports than ever before.

The winners will be announced across the following categories: Best Female, Best Male, Best Team, Best Female Debut, Best Male Debut and Best Official.

In addition to these six awards, the bp Courage Award will also be presented on 16 December recognising an athlete who best displayed the Paralympic value of courage at Tokyo 2020.