Mentel (pictured top) has become a significant figure for Para-snowboarding in recent years despite having her leg amputated due to an aggressive form of bone cancer at 27-years-old, which left her dreams of competing at the Salt Lake City 2002 Winter Olympics in ruins.

She was told she would never be able to compete in the sport again, however, the 40-year-old was back on the board just four months after the amputation and became Dutch champion three months later.

Mentel has since clinched other victories in both able-bodied and disabled competitions and played a key role in campaigning for snowboarding to be accepted onto the Paralympic sports programme for Sochi 2014.

She is now one step closer to qualifying for those Winter Paralympics in Russia after clinching the lower limb impairment group gold in a time of 1min 08.71sec at the IPCAS competition last month.


Meanwhile, Griffioen, the world number four-ranked player, won her first NEC Wheelchair Tennis Masters with a 6-4, 6-4 win over compatriot and world number two Aniek van Koot in a near two-hour final match.

The 27-year-old seven-time doubles Grand Slam champion and three-time Paralympic medallist made the most of the absence of 14-time Masters champion Esther Vergeer at the competition in Mechelen, Belgium, as she added her name to the list of five Dutchwomen to have won the title in the event's 19-year history.

The top performing teams on the shortlist include Norway's wheelchair curling squad who qualified for February's Wheelchair Curling World Championships after finishing in first place at the World Wheelchair Curling qualification event in Finland last month.

The team defeated hosts Finland 8-3 in the first playoff game to join Russia, Korea, China, Slovakia, the United States, Scotland, Canada and Sweden, which have already qualified for the championships based on their 2012 rankings, as well as Finland, who also qualified by beating Italy in last month's event.


Russia's ice sledge hockey team were also named finalists for the award following their gold medal win at the 2012 IPC Ice Sledge Hockey B Pool World Championships, which sees them move to the A Pool for 2013.

The victory came just two years after starting up their programme in the sport.

The Brazilian men's wheelchair basketball team completes the shortlist after they defeated Argentina for gold at the South American Wheelchair Basketball Championships, earning themselves a place at next year's Americas Cup.

The public now has until December 10 to vote for the winning athlete or team by clicking here.

Contact the writer of this story at [email protected]