The five nominees are Russian judoka Abdula Kuramagomedov, Malaysian powerlifter Bonnie Bunyau Gustin, Nigerian powerlifter Bose Omolayo, Dutch wheelchair basketball player Mariska Beijer, and Italian sitting volleyball athlete Silvia Biasi.

Kuramagomedov earned a shock victory at the European Judo Championships, beating Georgian world champion Zviad Gogotchuri in the men’s 100 kilograms category in Genoa.

The 20-year-old Gustin upset Paralympic champions Paul Kehinde and Liu Lei, pushing 207kg to claim his first senior major title at the World Championships in  Nur-Sultan in the men’s 65kg.

Omolayo broke the world record en route to gold in the women’s 79kg at the same championships, pushing 142kg for her first Worlds title.

Beijer was top scorer at the Women’s Wheelchair Basketball European Championship i Rotterdam with 170 points, including 24 in the final victory over Britain.

Defensive specialist Biasi was instrumental in the women’s team qualifying for next year's Paralympic Games in Tokyo, via their first-ever historic European Championship medal with silver against Russia in Budapest.

The winners in 2019 so far have been Dutch Alpine skier Jeroen Kampschreur, Chinese taekwondo fighter Yujie Li, Dutch snowboarder Lisa Bunschoten, Australian athlete Michael Roeger, Japanese wheelchair tennis player Koji Sugeno, and Spanish swimmer Antoni Ponce.

The public can vote for the winner by visiting the IPC website here.