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Vote for May’s Athlete of the Month

The public can now choose the IPC Athlete of the Month from a list of six finalists. 04 Jun 2013
Faris Al-Ajeeli of Iraq sticks his tongue out whilst attempting a lift

Faris Al-Ajeeli of Iraq sticks his tongue out while attempting a lift during the men's heavyweight competition at the London 2012 Paralympic Games.

ⒸGetty Images
By IPC

The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) announced the shortlist for May’s Athlete of the Month award, and the public can now vote for the winner via the poll on the homepage of www.paralympic.org.

Last month was highlighted by several international competitions in athletics and swimming, as well as the IWAS Wheelchair Fencing Grand Prix, the IPC Powerlifting Open European Championships and the IPC Shooting World Cup.

World records were broken across several of these events, showcasing the rising talent in the respective sports.

The finalists for last month’s top performers include:

-Marlou van Rhijn (Netherlands, athletics): The Paralympic champion sprinter broke the 400m T43 world record at the Dutch Open on 12 May with a time of 1:04.95. She now holds T43 world records in 100m, 200m and 400m. She also won the 100m T43/44 sprint at the BT Great CityGames in Manchester, Great Britain on 25 May.

-Andre Brasil (Brazil, swimming): Brasil celebrated his 29th birthday on 23 May by setting a new world record in the men’s 50m backstroke, clocking in at 27.86 at the German International Championships in Berlin.

-Beatrice Vio (Italy, wheelchair fencing): Vio won the category B foil title at the IWAS Wheelchair Fencing Grand Prix in Lonato del Garda, Italy, beating London 2012 silver medallist Dani Gyongi of Hungary for her second Grand Prix title in a row this year.

-Souhad Ghazouani (France, powerlifting): The 150kg lift that won her a gold medal at the 2013 IPC Powerlifting Open European Championships in the women’s -73kg category was four kilograms better than the performance that won her London 2012 gold last year. It was also the biggest lift by any woman at the event.

-Faris Al-Ajeeli (Iraq, powerlifting): Al-Ajeeli lifted the most weight of any athlete at the 2013 IPC Powerlifting Open European Championships, registering a world-record lift of 240kg in the men’s +107kg category.

-Olivera Nakovska-Bikova (Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, shooting): Nakovska-Bikova won the P2 (women’s 10m air pistol) and FTP (falling target pistol) events at the second stop on the 2013 IPC Shooting World Cup in Antalya, Turkey.

The public now has until 12:00 (CEST) on 11 June to vote for which athlete they think had the best performance last month.

The nominations are compiled from submissions by National Paralympic Committees and International Federations.