By Emily Goddard

Tatyana McFadden 020513May 2 - Tatyana McFadden has made it onto the shortlist for the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) Athlete of the Month award for April after the American wheelchair racer secured victory at the Boston and London Marathons – setting a course record in the latter.

The Russian-born athlete (pictured top), winner of three gold medals at the London 2012 Paralympics, crossed the line on her 24th birthday to secure her first London Marathon win in 1 hour 46min 02sec after claiming the Boston Marathon title in 1:45:24 just six days earlier - an event marred by the tragic bombing that occurred after the finish of the race in the Massachusetts city.

McFadden is joined on the shortlist by fellow American Paralympic champion Ian Silverman, who swam to two world records – pending IPC ratification, breaking the 33-year-old world record in the S10 1500 metres by clocking in at 16:24.63 and winning the S10 800m in 8:35.69 at the CanAm Championships in Minneapolis.

Canada's Greg Westlake is also up for the IPC Athlete of the Month title after the ice sledge hockey player was named Best Forward at the 2013 IPC Ice Sledge Hockey World Championships A-Pool, where he anchored his nation to a 1-0 win against the United States to take gold in the final.

Greg Westlake 020513Greg Westlake was named Best Forward of the 2013 IPC Ice Sledge Hockey World Championships A-Pool

As the team captain, Westlake led the Canadians with five goals in five games at that tournament, including the game-winning score in the semi-final against the Czech Republic.

Fellow ice sledge hockey player Mikhail Ivanov of Russia also makes the shortlist after being named Best Goaltender of the tournament in South Korea, where he and his team won bronze in their first A-Pool appearance, stopping more than 96 per cent of the pucks that flew his way to record 55 saves.

Swedish shooter Martin Halls completes the shortlist after winning gold and setting a new world record of 204.9 in the standing SH1 10m air rifle event at the IPC Shooting World Cup in Szczecin – his first major international competition.

The IPC Athlete of the Month nominations are compiled from submissions by National Paralympic Committees and International Federations.

The public has until 12:00 (CEST) on May 8 to vote for the winner via the poll on the IPC website. 

Contact the writer of this story at [email protected]


Related stories
April 2013: Double glory for McFadden but Weir's dreams of historic seventh London Marathon title in tatters
April 2013: Canada defeat USA to claim title at Sledge Hockey World Championships
April 2013:  Silverman continues to star at 2013 Spring CanAms with second world record