Who should be Americas 'Athlete of the Month'?

Brazil's Luis Cardoso, Canada's Patrick Anderson, Colombia's Diego Meneses, USA's Hannah Dederick and Argentina's Gustavo Fernandez are the five shortlisted Para athletes for the Americas ‘Athlete of the Month’ poll for August 2017.

The public are invited to vote for their winner via the Americas Paralympic Committee homepage and have time to do so until Wednesday (13 September).

The nominations are:

Luis Cardoso, Brazil, canoe

Picked up his fifth Para canoe world title in Racice, Czech Republic, bouncing back from his disappointing performance on home soil at Rio 2016, where he finished fourth in the men´s KL1.

Patrick Anderson, Canada, wheelchair basketball

Came back from retirement to lead the Canadian men´s wheelchair baskeball to silver at the Americas Cup and qualification for the 2018 World Championships, finishing as the team’s top-scorer.

Diego Meneses, Colombia, athletics

Claimed three golds in the men’s shot put, javelin and discus throw F32-F34 at the Nottwil 2017 World Para Athletics Junior Championships.

Gustavo Fernandez, Argentina, wheelchair tennis

Secured his first British Open crown and second Super Series title of his career at the expense of British player Alfie Hewett 6-4, 6-3, to extend his advantage at the top of the men’s rankings.

Steve Serio, USA, wheelchair basketball

Two-time Paralympic medallist Steve Serio co-captained another major tournament victory for the USA at the IWBF America’s Qualifier. In the gold-medal game against Canada he led the team with 22 points, in a come-from-behind victory.

The nominations are compiled from submissions by National Paralympic Committees (NPCs) from the continent.

The 2017 Americas Athlete of the Month winners so far are:

• January – Gustavo Fernandez, Argentina, wheelchair tennis

• February – Alexander Cataldo, Chile, wheelchair tennis

• March – Maria Paula Barrera, Colombia, swimming

• April – Adam Dixon, Canada, ice hockey

• May – Bruna Costa Alexandre, Brazil, table tennis

• June – Brent Lakatos, Canada, athletics

• July – Mauricio Valencia, Colombia, athletics