IPC announces March’s Athlete of the Month shortlist

The public now has until 12:00 (CEST) on 12 April to vote for the winner. 05 Apr 2013

A picture of a woman skiing on the slopes

Aleksandra Frantceva is Russia's top visually impaired alpine skier heading into the Sochi 2014 Paralympic Winter Games.

ⒸMarcus Hartmann

By IPC

The public now has until 12:00 (CEST) on 12 April to vote for which athlete it thought had the best performance last month.

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

Last month was highlighted by the IPC Alpine and IPC Nordic Skiing World Cups, the IPC Ice Sledge Hockey World Championships B-Pool, as well as several international events in wheelchair tennis, athletics and swimming.

The finalists for March’s Athlete of the Month include:

- Alexandra Frantseva (Russia): The visually impaired athlete had a top performance at the IPC Alpine Skiing World Cup Finals in Sochi, Russia, winning the World Cup titles in the slalom, giant slalom and speed events, as well as the women’s visually impaired overall rankings.

- Andrea Eskau (Germany): In addition to winning three golds and a bronze at the 2013 IPC Nordic Skiing World Championships, Eskau finished her season in first place in the women’s sitting class of the IPC Nordic Skiing World Cup rankings.

- Frank Rennhack (Germany): As the team captain, Rennhack fronted a gold-medal victory for Germany at the 2013 IPC Ice Sledge Hockey World Championships B-Pool, recording six goals and an assist.

- Kazuhiro Takahashi (Japan): Takahashi was the leading scorer at the 2013 IPC Ice Sledge Hockey World Championships B-Pool, leading his team to a silver medal with eight goals and assist at the tournament.

- Gustavo Fernandez (Argentina): The wheelchair tennis rising star won back-to-back ITF 1 Series titles, winning the Pensacola Open and Cajun Classic, beating world No. 2 Stephane Houdet of France in both events.

- Mary Fisher (New Zealand): Fisher broke world records in both the women’s 50m butterfly S11 and 100m butterfly S11 events at the New Zealand Opening Swimming Championships. She was also the winner of the People’s Choice Award at the New Zealand Swimming Awards – an honour never won before by an athlete with an impairment.

The public now has until 12:00 (CEST) on 12 April to vote for which athlete it thought had the best performance last month.

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