2021 Paralympic Sport Awards: Best Team nominees

The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) has announced the nominees who have made the shortlist in the Best Team 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 Team category is as follows:

Great Britain Wheelchair Rugby 
Great Britain’s gold medal win was historic in many ways: first wheelchair rugby gold for GB at a World or Paralympic level; first European team to make the gold medal match; first Paralympic gold for GB in a team sport; and Kylie Grimes became the first woman to win Paralympic gold in the history of the sport. 

Iran Men’s Sitting Volleyball
Iran were crowned men’s sitting volleyball champions for a record seventh time after overcoming the RPC. Tokyo 2020 marked the first time since Atlanta 1996 that the gold medal match was not between the Asian team and Bosnia & Herzegovina. Morteza Mehrzadselakjani proved key to Iran’s success, scoring 28 points in the final.

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USA Women’s Sitting Volleyball
The women’s sitting volleyball team won their second straight gold in the sport. After falling to China in the group stages, the U.S. came back to finish off the Games with gold. In addition to the team gold, individual accolades were also achieved with Katie Holloway grabbing MVP of the Paralympic tournament, Bethany Zummo taking Best Libero and Best Receiver, Kaleo Maclay taking Best Setter and Monique Matthews taking Best Blocker.

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.