The award, which will be presented by the IPC's international partner Allianz, will go to the top male athlete from the Vancouver 2010 Paralympics and visually impaired Canadian biathlete and cross-country skier Brian McKeever heads up the stellar five-man line-up.

The 32-year-old from Calgary, who started began to lose his vision at 19-year-old, dominated his home Games in Vancouver as he stormed to three gold medals in the 20 kilometres freestyle, 10km classic style and sprint classic style alongside his older brother Robin McKeever who competes as his guide.

McKeever is joined on the list by German alpine skiing ledged Gerd Schönfelder who took four gold medals and a silver in Vancouver to take his overall Paralympic medal tally to 22, including 16 golds.

Earlier this year, the 41-year-old won two golds, a silver and a bronze at the 2011 IPC Alpine Skiing World Championships in Sestriere, Italy before announcing his retirement from the sport.

Irek Zaripov is next on the list and as the Russian, who lost both of his legs after a car accident back in 2000, equalled Schönfelder's tally of collecting four golds and a silver at Vancouver 2010.

Visually impaired Slovakian Jakub Krako is next on the list after the visually impaired 220-year-old won three golds and a silver in Vancouver before claiming the Super G World Cup at the end of 2010 and the slalom World Cup at the beginning of 2011.


The final man on the shortlist for the prestigious award is New Zealander Adam Hall (pictured).

Born with spina bifida, Hall quickly became the pride of his country after the 22-year-old stormed to a shock gold medal in the alpine skiing slalom standing event in Vancouver.

After a stunning first run that put him well into the lead, a remarkable recovery following a fall in his second run saw him claim a stunning victory.

The award winner will be announced during a special ceremony that will coincide with the 2011 IPC General Assembly in Beijing this December at the same time as the female winner.

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