Swimmer Danylo Chufarov has been selected by experts from the International Paralympic Committee as one of the contenders for the Sportperson of the year with a disability nomination. The Laureus World Sports Awards is an annual sports awards ceremony established in 2000.
The 34-year-old Danylo Chufarov achieved remarkable success at the 2023 World Para Swimming Championships in Manchester, UK. He won three gold medals in the 100m butterfly, 100m freestyle, and 200m individual medley, as well as a silver medal in the 100m breaststroke, setting two world records in the process.
In 2022, Chufarov's home in Mariupol was destroyed by Russian forces. Before being evacuated from the city, Danylo and his wife Yaryna endured horrific times with shortages of water and food, under the threat of Russian firearms.
"In spring 2022, he was under occupation in Mariupol in the Donetsk region of Ukraine, surviving with limited food and water and no electricity, heat or communication. Eventually he had to leave his home with only the clothes he had with him. However the visually impaired swimmer returned to the swimming pool in 2023 with a burning desire to win and at the Allianz Para Swimming World Championship in Manchester he secured three gold medals, one silver and set two world records. It was even more remarkable as Chufarov’s previous world championship gold medal was back in 2013," written at Laureus World Sports Awards website.
The 25th Laureus World Sports Awards will take place on April 22 in Madrid, Spain.
