IPC announces December’s Athlete of the Month shortlist
08.01.2013Nominees for December’s Athlete of the Month include Russian standing skier Alexey Bugaev, sit-skiers Anna Schaffelhuber of Germany and Tyler Walker of USA, Hungary’s wheelchair fencer Zsuzsanna Krajnyak and USA’s ice sledge hockey star Taylor Chace.
Russia's Alexander Vetrov came fourth in the giant slalom at the IPC Alpine Skiing Europa Cup in Pitztal (5 December 2012)
© • Ralf Kuckuck
Germany's Anna Schaffelhuber won the giant slalom at the IPC Alpine Skiing Europa Cup in Pitztal, Austria (5 Dec 2012)
© • Ralf Kuckuck
USA's Tyler Walker won two gold medals in the super-G at the 2012-13 IPC Alpine Skiing NORAM Cup in Colorado, USA.
© • Michael Knaus
Hungary's Zsuzsanna Krajnyak
© • Getty Images
Together, forward Alexi Salamone and defender Taylor Chace have become the faces of the USA's ice sledge hockey programme.
© • Getty Images
The public now has until 17:00 (CEST) on 14 January 2013 to vote for which athlete it thought had the best performance last month.
The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) has announced its shortlist for December’s Athlete of the Month award, and the public can now vote for the winner via the poll on the www.paralympic.org homepage.
Last month was highlighted by the World Sledge Hockey Challenge, IPC Alpine Skiing Europa Cup and NORAM Cup, Ice Sledge Hockey New Year’s Cup, IPC Nordic Skiing World Cup and the Wheelchair Fencing World Cup.
The finalists for December’s Athlete of the Month include:
- Alexey Bugaev (Russia): The standing alpine skier won four Europa Cup races and came second in two in December, only being beaten by Switzerland’s Thomas Pfyl. Bugaev now tops the men’s Europa Cup rankings.
- Anna Schaffelhuber (Germany): The sitting alpine skier came first in five races and second in one, beaten by Austria’s Claudia Loesch. Schaffelhuber, one to watch, now tops the women’s rankings.
- Tyler Walker (USA): The sit-skier dominated the IPC Alpine Skiing NORAM Cup in December, winning five out of six races, only being beaten by his teammate Heath Calhoun in the giant slalom to place second.
- Zsuzsanna Krajnyak (Hungary): The wheelchair fencer won both the women’s epee and foil category A events at the Wheelchair Fencing World Cup. Was the top performer there.
- Taylor Chace (USA): The ice sledge hockey star scored the only goal in USA's 1-0 win over Canada in the gold-medal game of the World Sledge Hockey Challenge.
The public now has until 17:00 (CEST) on 14 January 2013 to vote for which athlete it thought had the best performance last month.
The nominations are compiled from submissions by National Paralympic Committees (NPCs) and International Federations (IFs).
