Vote for December’s Allianz Athlete of the Month
Athletes take important steps toward Tokyo 2020 while winter sport athletes impress early in the season 13 Jan 2020
The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) has released the shortlist for December’s Allianz Athlete of the Month, and fans can now vote for the winner on www.paralympic.org.
The nominations are:
Vilde Nilsen, NOR, cross-country skiing
The 18-year-old swept gold in all three individual standing cross-country events at the first World Cup of the season at home in Lillehammer, site of the 2021 World Championships.
Zouhair Snisla, MAR, blind football
Snisla stole the show in the final of the 2019 IBSA Blind Football African Championships in Enugu, Nigeria. After an early brace in the first-half against Mali, he scored another in the second to complete his hat-trick and help his team claim the win and place at Tokyo 2020. He also walked away with the Player of the Tournament award.
Ben Tudhope, AUS, snowboard
The Aussie took two golds in the snowboard-cross races at the World Cup in Pyha, Finland, and dedicated his wins to his coach Mikko Wendelin, who passed away just a week before.
Haruka Wakasugi, JPN, goalball
She was her team’s top scorer at the 2019 IBSA Goalball Asia Pacific Championships at home in Chiba. Wakasugi scored 10 goals across the tournament and saw the hosts claim their third consecutive women’s title.
Mingyuan Yang, CHN, goalball
Scored an impressive seven goals in the final of 2019 IBSA Goalball Asia Pacific Championships in Chiba, Japan to help his team claim their fourth title and tickets to Tokyo 2020. Yang also left as the men’s top scorer with 31 goals overall.
The public has until 12:00 (CEST) on Monday (20 January) to vote for the athlete they want to be the Allianz Athlete of the Month for December 2019 via the International Paralympic Committee homepage.
The nominations are compiled from submissions by National Paralympic Committees (NPCs) and International Federations (IFs).
The 2019 winners are:
January – Jeroen Kampschreur, NED, alpine skiing
February – Yujie Li, CHN, taekwondo
March – Lisa Bunschoten, NED, snowboard
April – Michael Roeger, AUS, athletics
May – Koji Sugeno, JPN, wheelchair tennis
June – Antoni Ponce, ESP, swimming
July – Silvia Biasi, ITA, sitting volleyball
August – Peter Pal Kiss, HUN, canoe
September – Alice Tai, GBR, swimming
October – Barbara Moskal, POL, shooting
November – Shaun Norris, AUS, wheelchair basketball
