The 10 time Paralympic gold medallist Du Toit - who became the first ever amputee to qualify for the Olympics Games when she finished 16th in the 10 kilometre swim at the Beijing 2008 Olympics - is one of the most recognisable faces in disability sport and has dominated the sport since she lost her leg in 2001 after she was hit by a car.

Du Toit is joined on the list of nominations by Australian wheelchair basketball player Justin Eveson, Australian athlete Kurt Fearnley, Turkish archer Gizem Girismen, Japanese wheelchair tennis player Shingo Kunieda and German cyclist Michael Teuber.

A specialist panel consisting of experienced representatives in the field of Paralympic Sport and the Paralympic Movement selected the six candidates based on submissions from the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) membership though the Laureus World Sports Academy will now elect the winner.

Laureus World Sports Academy chairman Edwin Moses said: "This has been a great year for sport and the Academy is going to find it extremely difficult to decide who to vote for as winners.

"We have had some thrilling World Championships this year and a host of terrific individual performances.

"I congratulate all the nominees and now we look forward to what should be a great Awards Ceremony.”

The winner will be announced at the Laureus World Sports Awards Ceremony on March 10 in Abu Dhabi.

The Laureus World Sports Awards will be given for the eleventh time this year and celebrate sporting excellence across all disciplines and all continents.

Awards are bestowed in a range of categories including World Sportsman and World Sportswoman of the Year, World Team of the Year, World Breakthrough of the Year, World Comeback of the Year, World Sportsperson of the Year with a Disability and World Action Sportsperson of the Year.

The awards are widely considered the most prestigious sporting awards on the planet and previous winners in the disability category included legendary Canadian wheelchair racer Chantal Petitclerc, Dutch wheelchair tennis queen Esther Vergeer and Brazilian Paralympic swimmer Daniel Dias who won the award in 2009.

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