U.S. Nordic sit-skier Andy Soule was voted the International Paralympic Committee’s (IPC) Athlete of the Month after a record-breaking January. The Paralympic bronze medalist made history by becoming the first U.S. athlete to win five medals at the IPC Nordic Skiing World Championships in Cable, Wisconsin. Soule won silver in the 7.5km and 12.5km biathlon races, the 10km cross country, and bronze in the 1km sprint and the 15km cross country races.
Soule is a U.S. Army veteran who underwent bilateral transfemoral amputations due to injuries he received in 2005, after the Humvee he was traveling in was hit by an improvised explosive device while he was deployed to Afghanistan. He competed in cross country skiing and biathlon in the 2010 Winter Paralympic Games in Vancouver, Canada. By claiming the bronze medal in biathlon there, Soule holds the distinction of being the first American-whether Olympian or Paralympian-to ever medal in the sport.
Nominations for Athlete of the Month were compiled from submissions by National Paralympic Committees and International Federations, before the public voted for the winner on the IPC website. Soule won the title with 37 percent of the public vote.