“The virtual Visa Paralympic Hall of Fame is a high profile way of celebrating great historical sporting achievements in the Paralympic Movement.”

The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) is calling upon its members and the general public to nominate retired Paralympians and coaches in summer sports to be inducted into the Visa Paralympic Hall of Fame during the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games.

The public can nominate candidates for the following categories – Male Athlete, Female Athlete and Coach – and send their nominations by 12:00 CET on 31 March 2016 by tweeting @paralympics with the name of the athlete or coach and using the hashtag #VisaHallofFame; or on Facebook by entering their nomination under the comment section of this story. The public can also email their nominations to ipc.media@paralympic.org.

“The virtual Visa Paralympic Hall of Fame is a high profile way of celebrating great historical sporting achievements in the Paralympic Movement,” said IPC Chief Executive Officer Xavier Gonzalez. “It ensures that an institutional memory is kept of the best Paralympic athletes and coaches of all-time, thus honouring the performers who achieved a high and sustained level of success at the Paralympic Games.”

To be eligible, candidates must have participated in a minimum of two Paralympic Games and have won a number of medals, achieving a very high and sustained level of success at the Games. They must also have consistently displayed a spirit of fair play, and made a positive contribution to the Paralympic Movement.

The IPC Governing Board will vote who to induct into the Visa Paralympic Hall of Fame from the nominations.

“This September, to coincide with the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games, the IPC aims to induct two male athletes, two female athletes and one coach in to the Hall of Fame alongside some of the most illustrious names in Paralympic Sport,” Gonzalez said.

The Paralympic Hall of Fame election and induction ceremonies take place every two years and coincide with summer and winter Paralympic Games.

The 2012 Visa Paralympic Hall of Fame inductees included former British swimmer Chris Holmes, USA swimmer Trischa Zorn, Australian wheelchair racer Louise Sauvage and Italian Roberto Marson who competed in athletics, swimming and wheelchair fencing, along with Paralympian-turned-coach Frank Ponta.

Visa has been a Worldwide Paralympic Partner and Paralympic Games sponsor since 2002. Visa is also a Worldwide Sponsor of the Olympic Games and will be the exclusive payment services sponsor and only card accepted at the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.