Para alpine siblings and USA's most decorated Paralympian of all time among winners of the 2023 Para Sport Awards
New Zealand's Nicole Murray, Italy's Simone Barlaam, Austria's Aigner siblings, and USA's Oksana Masters and Declan Farmer were among the athletes recognised for their outstanding 2022 performances at the inaugural Para Sport Awards.
The winners of the inaugural Para Sport Awards were announced at a ceremony in Manama, Bahrain on Wednesday (27 September).
The 2023 awards recognised athletes, coaches, volunteers, and members of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) who have strengthened Para sports worldwide.
See the full list of athlete winners below.
Nicole Murray (New Zealand, Para cycling) – Best Female Summer Sports
Murray had a breakthrough 2022 season, winning five world titles. She started by picking up a silver and bronze in the C5 class at the 2022 UCI Para Cycling Road World Championships in August despite never having competed in a road race before, and went on to take two world titles at the Para Cycling Track World Championships two months later.
Simone Barlaam (Italy, Para swimming) – Best Male Summer Sports
A tenth career world record and six world titles in a single year put Barlaam in a league of his own among summer sport athletes. The 2022 World Para Swimming Championships were especially successful for the 23-year-old. In addition to winning six gold medals, he set four world records and two European records, and helped Italy finish on top of the medals table.
Oksana Masters (USA, Para Nordic Skier) – Best Female Winter Sports
Masters became the most decorated US winter Paralympian at Beijing 2022 where she won medals in all seven of her events, including two gold in Para biathlon and one gold in Para cross-country skiing. This brought her total Olympic gold haul - which also includes two gold medals in Para cycling from Tokyo 2020 - to seven.
Declan Farmer (USA, Para ice hockey) – Best Male Winter Sports
Farmer helped Team USA win their fourth consecutive gold in Para ice hockey at Beijing 2022. Making his third Paralympic appearance, the 25-year-old forward led the tournament with 18 points and also set a national record for the most points and assists in a single Paralympic Winter Games.
USA Para ice hockey team – Best Team
A fifth Paralympic gold medal, at Beijing 2022, reaffirmed USA’s status as the most decorated Para ice hockey team in Paralympic history. To add to that accomplishment, they went undefeated on their way to gold in the Chinese capital, becoming the only team to do so.
Their glittering 4-0 campaign finished with a 5-0 shutout victory against long-time rivals Canada in the final.
Johannes Aigner and guide Matteo Fleischmann (Austria, Para alpine skiing) – Rising Star Award
Aigner made his Paralympic debut at age 16 and quickly became one of the biggest sensations at Beijing 2022. With his parents watching from the stands and three sisters also competing on the course at Yanqing National Alpine Skiing Centre, Aigner won medals in five out of five men's vision impaired races, including gold in downhill and giant slalom.
The Austrian teenager earlier won four medals at the World Para Snow Sports Championships in 2022 and repeated that performance at the 2023 Worlds edition in Lleida, Spain.
Veronika Aigner and guide Elisabeth Aigner (Austria, Para alpine skiing) – Breakthrough Award
While Johannes Aigner impressed in the men's events at Beijing 2022, his older sisters picked up two gold medals in the women's races
Veronika and Elisabeth are among five Aigner siblings, three of which have the same hereditary vision impairment as their mother, with Elisabeth serving as her sister’s guide since Veronika made her World Cup debut. The sister duo also won two gold medals at the World Para Alpine Skiing Championships in 2023.
A full list of the awards is available here.