A record 26 candidates announced for Paris 2024 IPC Athletes‘ Council elections

The election for the IPC Athletes' Council will take place from 26 August to 5 September during the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games 11 Jun 2024

The IPC Athletes’ Council is a group of elected athlete representatives who act as the voice of the Para athlete community to the IPC

By IPC

A record 26 candidates have been nominated for election during the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games to fill six summer representative roles on the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) Athletes‘ Council.

The IPC Athletes’ Council is a group of elected athlete representatives who act as the voice of the Para athlete community to the IPC. The chairperson of the IPC Athletes’ Council and first vice-chairperson are also members of the IPC Governing Board as ex-officio voting members.

The election for the IPC Athletes' Council will take place from 26 August to 5 September during the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games in PLY House, close to the Main Dining Hall in the Paralympic Village, and the Athlete Lounge at Chateauroux Village for athletes in Shooting Para sport.

Of the 26 candidates, 14 are male, 12 female and 22 are actively competing athletes. Candidates span 12 sports and four continents. The candidates are:

Name	Nominating body	Nationality	Gender	Sport
Saif Alnuaimi	NPC UAE	United Arab Emirates	M	Shooting Para Sport
Najwa Awane	NPC Morocco	Morocco	F	Wheelchair Tennis
Mariska Beijer	NPC Netherlands	Netherlands	F	Wheelchair Basketball
Martina Caironi	NPC Italy	Italy	F	Para Athletics
Lenine Cunha	Virtus	Portugal	M	Para Athletics
Maria Delgado Nadal	NPC Spain	Spain	F	Para Swimming
Iaroslav Denysenko	NPC Ukraine	Ukraine	M	Para Swimming
Simon Detmer*	NPC USA	USA	M	Para Athletics
Omara Durand Elias	NPC Cuba	Cuba	F	Para Athletics
Luca Anna Ekler	NPC Hungary	Hungary	F	Para Athletics
Chan Daniel Ho Yuen	NPC Hong Kong, China	Hong Kong, China	M	Para Badminton
Ayao Severin Kansa*	NPC Togo	Togo	M	Para Athletics
Vladyslava Kravchenko	NPC Malta	Malta	F	Para Swimming
Husnah Kukundakwe	NPC Uganda	Uganda	F	Para Swimming
Leomon Moreno da Silva	NPC Brazil	Brazil	M	Goalball
Tania Nadarajah	NPC Great Britain	Great Britain	F	Para Archery
Zahra Nemati	NPC Iran	Iran	F	Para Archery
Sherif Osman	NPC Egypt	Egypt	M	Para Powerlifting
Benjamin Pritchard	World Rowing	Great Britain	M	Para Rowing
Charles Rozoy	NPC France	France	M	Para Swimming
Mario Ernesto Sayes*	NPC El Salvador	El Salvador	M	Boccia
Denise Schindler	UCI	Germany	F	Para Cycling
Fatmir Seremeti	NPC Sweden	Sweden	M	Goalball
Takayuki Suzuki	NPC Japan	Japan	M	Para Swimming
Yujiao Tan	NPC China	China	F	Para Powerlifting
Yoomin Won	NPC Korea	Korea, Republic of	M	Wheelchair Basketball

*Candidate nomination depends on the athlete's qualification for the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games.

The six IPC Athletes‘ Council members elected at the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games will be unveiled at the Closing Ceremony of the Games on 8 September. They will then join the three winter representatives who were elected during the Beijing 2022 Paralympic Winter Games, as well as appointed member Greg Polychronidis of Greece, and the IOC Athletes’ Commission Chair, to form the IPC Athletes‘ Council.

As Dutch wheelchair basketball player Jitske Visser, the current Chairperson of the IPC Athletes’ Council, is not seeking re-election, the IPC Athletes’ Council will elect a new Chairperson at it first meeting to be held in the final quarter of the year.

To oversee the election in Paris and ensure candidates adhere to IPC Code of Ethics and Campaign Rules, an IPC Electoral Commission has been appointed. The Athletes’ Council acts as the liaison between athletes and decision-makers and influences how Paralympic sport and the Movement grow and develop. All Aa accredited athletes competing in the Paralympic Games are encouraged to vote in the elections to ensure their voice is heard and their sport and region is represented.

All candidates must compete in the current edition of the Paralympic Games at which the election is taking place, or have competed in either of the previous two editions of the Paralympic Games (Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020). At both the Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games, 22 candidates sought election to the IPC Athletes’ Council, the previous record number before the number of Paris 2024 candidates were announced.

More information on the IPC Athletes' Council is available on Paralympic.org/athletes-council.