Six athletes shortlisted for Brazilian awards

The Brazilian Paralympic Committee (CPB) has announced the names of six athletes in the running for the best athlete of the year award.

The public have until 23:59 on 9 December to vote for their best male and best female.

Winners will be announced at the Paralympic Awards 2014, a glittering ceremony which will take place on 10 December at the Sofitel Copacabana in Rio de Janeiro and be shown live on SporTV.

The shortlist for best male includes:

Daniel Dias (Swimming)

• Broke two individual world records and one relay record in 2014

Leomon Moreno (Goalball)

• Top scorer as the national team won its first ever world title in Finland.

Ricardinho (Football 5-side)

• Top scorer and voted player of the tournament as Brazil won a fourth world title in Japan.

Shortlisted for best female are:

Bruna Alexandre (table tennis)

• An individual and team medallist at the ITTF Para-Table Tennis World Championships in Beijing, China.

Marcia Menezes (Powerlifting)

• In winning bronze in the up to 79kg class, claimed Brazil’s first ever medal at an IPC Powerlifting World Championships.

Terezinha Guilhermina (athletics)

• Topped the 100m and 200m T11 world rankings in 2014.

Candidates for the best athlete of the year award were chosen by a committee made up of representatives of the CPB and the board of athletes following nominations from relevant federations.

In 2013, swimmers Daniel Dias and Susana Schnarndorf were the winners.

At the 2014 Paralympic Awards, achievements in each of the 22 Paralympic sports will also be recognised.