Schaffelhuber Voted IPC’s Athlete of the Month November 2010

The public has voted Anna Schaffelhuber, a German Alpine Skier and recent winner of the first Paralympic Alpine Skiing event of the 2010/2011 Season, as the International Paralympic Committee’s (IPC) ‘Athlete of the Month’ for November 2010.

The Vancouver 2010 Paralympic Winter Games bronze medalist took 45% of the public votes via www.facebook.com/ParalympicSport.TV, the IPC’s official Facebook page.

Born with paraplegia, Anna discovered Alpine Skiing at the age of five. In her first Paralympic appearance, she won the bronze medal in the Women’s Super G sitting competition at the Vancouver 2010 Paralympics and finished fourth in the Women’s Slalom sitting and Super Combined sitting competitions.

Schaffelhuber is still a student and is taking her A levels in May 2011. Before focusing on her studies though, she is determined to win a medal at the 2011 IPC Alpine Skiing World Championships, held in Sestiere, Italy, from 15-23 January. Schaffelhuber is one of the athletes to keep an eye on, judging by her great performance in late November at the first indoor Alpine Skiing event in the history of Paralympic Sport, held in Landgraaf, the Netherlands.

To be voted the IPC’s ‘Athlete of the Month’ Anna Schaffelhuber beat off competition from four other athletes. These were:

• Great Britain’s David Weir, who won the wheelchair competition at New York Marathon

• Dutch Wheelchair Tennis Player Esther Vergeer, who won her 400th consecutive singles match during November

• French Wheelchair Tennis player Stephane Houdet, who broke Japan’s Shingo Kunieda 106 match winning streak.

• Great Britain’s top rower Tom Aggar, who won gold in the Men’s Single Scull at the 2010 World Rowing Championships in Lake Karapiro, New Zealand.

Previous winners in 2010 are as follows:

January: Alexi Salamone, Ice Sledge Hockey

February: Mariann Marthinsen, Cross-Country Skiing

March: Canadian Wheelchair Curling Team

April: Sinisa Vidic, Shooting

May: Katrin Green, Athletics

June: Padraic Moran, Boccia

July: Chinese Women's Sitting Volleyball Team

August: Daniel Dias, Swimming

September: US Wheelchair Rugby Team

October: Katrina Hart, Athletics