The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) has announced the athletes, teams and officials who have made the shortlists for November's 2013 Paralympic Sport Awards which will take place in Athens, Greece and are proudly partnered by the IPC's International Partner Allianz.
On Saturday 23 November six awards recognising achievements from the London 2012 Paralympic Games will be presented at a special awards ceremony in the following categories: best female, best male, best female debut, best male debut, best team and best official.
Between them the athletes won 38 gold medals at London 2012 and due to a record number of nominations this year from members, the IPC has decided to split the best Games debut award into two categories for males and females.
The shortlists for each of the six categories are as follows:
Best Female
Yunidis Castillo (CUB)
* Became Cuba's most successful Paralympian after winning all three sprint golds in world record times.
Terezinha Guilhermina (BRA)
* Won 100m gold in a world record and broke the Paralympic record to secure 200m gold.
Zarah Nemati (IRI)
* First Iranian woman to win either Olympic or Paralympic gold after success in the women's individual recurve W1/W2.
Esther Vergeer (NED)
* Finished one of Paralympic sport's most successful ever careers with a fourth wheelchair tennis singles title and gold in the doubles.
Yu Chui Lee (HKG)
* Claimed two individual gold medals and one team bronze in wheelchair fencing and was also re-elected to the IPC Athletes' Council.
Best Male
Patrick Anderson (CAN)
* Spearheaded Canada to wheelchair basketball gold by posting career best numbers and finishing as the tournament's top scorer.
Ryley Batt (AUS)
* Widely regarded as the world's best wheelchair rugby player after leading Australia to gold.
Daniel Dias (BRA)
* Brazil's top performing athlete winning six golds is as many events in the Aquatics Centre
Heinrich Popow (GER)
* Won 100m gold as well as bronze in the 200m and 4x100m T42-46 relay.
David Weir (GBR)
* Competed on eight days and was unbeatable winning four golds in as many events in what is widely regarded as one of Paralympic sport's most competitive classes.
Best Female Games Debut
Johanna Benson (NAM)
* Became the first Namibian to win gold in either the Olympic or Paralympic Games after success in the 200m T37. Also won 100m T37 silver.
Michelle George (BEL)
* Won two equestrian gold medals in a sport dominated by the host nation and was Belgium's first Paralympic equestrian gold medal winner since the sport was added to the programme in 1996.
Marlou Van Rhijn (NED)
* Followed up winning 100m and 200m European titles in June, by claiming 100m silver and 200m gold at the Paralympics. She also set new world records for both sprints in London.
Best Male Games Debut
Raymond Martin (USA)
* Unbeatable winning gold in all four track events he took part in, breaking the Paralympic record in the 100m and 200m.
Jonnie Peacock (GBR)
* Broke the 100m world record in June and in August silenced 80,000 people chanting his name before taking Paralympic gold in the same event.
Alex Zanardi (ITA)
* The former Formula 1 driver won two individual handclying gold medals at Brand Hatch as well as team silver.
Best Team
Australia Wheelchair Rugby
* Took gold with victory over Canada having won silver in 2008.
Brazil Football 5-a-side
* Won their third successive gold in this event without even conceding a goal.
Canada Men's Wheelchair Basketball
* Claimed their third gold in the last four Paralympics by beating Australia in the final.
Best Official
Edilson Rocha Tubiba (BRA)
* Brazilian Chef of Mission responsible for 182 athletes in 18 different sports who finished seventh place in the medals table - the best ever performance by a Brazilian team.
Sylvia Sekowska (GER)
* Head Table Official for wheelchair rugby who, in the lead-up to the Games developed and delivered a comprehensive training project that enabled a pool of qualified National Technical Officials from the host country to be selected for the Games.
Louis Barbeau (CAN)
* Through the UCI and LOCOG, Louis was responsible for the London 2012 cycling course, which proved to be a challenging and fantastic event.
Previous winners of the awards which take place in the years following a summer and winter Paralympic Games include Australian swimming sensation Matthew Cowdrey and legendary Canadian wheelchair racer Chantal Petitclerc.
For more information contact: craig.spence@paralympic.org or call +49-228-2097-230. Alternatively, please visit www.paralympic.org.
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