Nomination process opens for 2013 Paralympic Sport Awards

Those who are members of the Paralympic Family are allowed to put forth nominations, including National Paralympic Committees, Regional Paralympic Committees, Internationals Federations and International Organisations of Sports for the Disabled (IOSDs).

The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) opened up the nomination process on Friday (26 April) for the prestigious 2013 Paralympic Sport Awards.

The awards ceremony, proudly partnered by the IPC’s International Partner Allianz, will be held on 23 November in Athens, Greece, coinciding with the IPC General Assembly and Conference, and will honour the exceptional performances and contributions of athletes, teams and officials at the London 2012 Paralympic Games.

The awards will be presented in five categories: Best Male Athlete, Best Female Athlete, Best Team Performance, Best Paralympic Games Debut and Exemplary Paralympic Games Official.

Those who are members of the Paralympic Family are allowed to put forth nominations, including National Paralympic Committees, Regional Paralympic Committees, Internationals Federations and International Organisations of Sports for the Disabled (IOSDs).

Each organisation may submit only one nomination per category. All nominations must be related to the London 2012 Paralympic Games period and must be submitted to the IPC headquarters before 12:00 (CET) on 10 June.

An awards committee will select the winners, who will then be notified in August.

To request a nomination form, please contact IPC Membership Relations Manager Claire Magras at Claire.Magras@paralympic.org.

The Paralympic Sport Awards have been given out every two years since 2005, and Canada have taken home the most honours, winning five different awards.

At the 2011 awards ceremony, German alpine skier Gerd Schoenfelder and nordic skier Verena Bentele won Best Male Athlete and Best Female Athlete, respectively.

Japan’s ice sledge hockey team received the Best Team Performance Award, Ukrainian nordic skier Oleksandra Kononova won Best Games Debut and IPC Technical Delegate for cross-country skiing Christian Egli won Best Official.

At the 2009 awards ceremony – the last for summer sports – Australian swimmer Matthew Cowdrey and Canadian wheelchair racer Chantal Petitclerc won Best Male and Best Female Athlete, respectively.

Australia’s men’s wheelchair basketball squad won Best Team Performance, New Zealand’s swimmer Sophie Pascoe won Best Games Debut and China’s Beijing 2008 Chef de Mission Wang Xinxian won Best Team Official.